Palestinian Children Detained by Israeli Forces for Picking Akkoub

11th March 2021

Palestinian Children Detained by Israeli Forces for Picking Akkoub

Israeli forces arrested five Palestinian children (BTselem/Twitter).

The Claim

A video depicts Israeli forces arresting five Palestinian children after they entered the yard of a house and were trying to steal exotic birds.

Yeah, those terrorist kids were def. looking on the ground for parrots to steal. The plan was to put them in buckets and cover them with wild artichokes to hide the crime. All Israelis should be embarrassed today. Whoever lied to the IDF should be jailed. https://t.co/GKolRqDRP0
— ((Jewlicious)) (@jewlicious) March 11, 2021

News posted on

Carmel Dangor כרמל דנגור

CAMERA UK (formerly UK Media Watch and BBC Watch)

Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll

Emerging story

A video that depicts Israeli forces arresting five Palestinian children is widely circulating online.

Some users online claimed that the five kids were arrested because they entered a private house yard trying to steal parrots.

Other users denied that the Israeli soldiers arrested the children in the circulating video.

B'tselem and @Independent are misreporting this . Here are the facts: nobody was "arrested by the IDF". These children, ages 8-13, were accused of trying to steal exotic birds. They were transferred to the police, who detained them until their parents picked them up. https://t.co/fJ9ObXYxqN
— kweansmom (@kweansmom) March 11, 2021

It's incredible how entering private property and trying to steal, and not flowers by the way, is not understood to be illegal. They were detained and then released. Just like anyone entering and stealing would be. But don't let that stop your outrage https://t.co/DJrWILa3wi
— Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll (@skjask) March 11, 2021

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar's investigation found the circulating claim misleading.

B’Tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories reported five Palestinians had been detained by the Israeli Military in the West Bank.

Five Palestinians aged 8 to 12 had been detained near the settlement of Havat Maon south of Hebron for picking wild vegetables.

Video footage of the moments preceding the arrest of the 5 children yesterday: The children gathered Akkoub (a type of wild Artichoke) near the settlement Havat Maon, 2 masked settlers approached them, scared them away and took the buckets and plants they left behind. pic.twitter.com/y0zvtt7AFk
— B'Tselem בצלם بتسيلم (@btselem) March 11, 2021

Users claimed that the children entered a yard belonging to a house and attempted to steal parrots, but the video doesn’t show a house or private property.

The children were arrested by @idfonline and taken to the @IL_police station near Hebron after the settlers of the illegal outpost of Havat Maon claimed that they "entered the outpost".
A genuine snapshot of the Israeli security forces 2021. pic.twitter.com/ciKU0oe18T
— Dror Etkes (@dror_etkes) March 10, 2021

According to the Middle East Eye, US Congresswoman Betty McCollum denounced the arrest of Palestinian children by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

McCollum told MEE in an email, "Seeing the images of heavily armed Israeli soldiers manhandling and detaining these five preteen Palestinian children is extremely disturbing."

"Using Israeli soldiers to capture little boys who were reportedly 'gathering wild vegetables' in occupied Palestinian land is wrong."

The Israeli settlers chased the children while picking Akkoub (Gundelia), scared them away, and took the buckets and plants they left behind.

It’s a seasonal activity to pick the flowers to eat or sell - they strayed too close to an Israeli settlement. The settlers chased them away and called the military according to israel rights group @btselem (settlements are illegal under international law)
— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) March 10, 2021

The children were released from the Hebron police station after several hours.

Israel just released few Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of goodwill. pic.twitter.com/psWk768N7L
— Dror Etkes (@dror_etkes) March 10, 2021

This thread is getting some traction, so I want to add something about law enforcement in this area, near the settlement Maon, in the southern Hebron Hills.
This is the only place in the West Bank where Palestinian school kids get a military escort to go to school, since 2004.
— Sarit Michaeli (@saritm0) March 10, 2021

Therefore, given the surrounding context, the children were in an open area in the southern Hebron Hills not in a private farm.

Hence, we rate this claim as misleading.