Generation after generation, Israeli prison marks a rite of passage for Palestinian boys

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

NABI SALEH, West Bank (AP) — The release of Palestinian prisoners under the Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement last week has touched nearly everyone in the occupied West Bank, where 750,000 Palestinians have been arrested since 1967. In negotiations with Israel to free hostages in Hamas captivity in Gaza, the militant group has pushed for the release of high-profile prisoners. But experts say most Palestinians passing through Israel’s ever-revolving prison door are young men arrested in the middle of the night for throwing stones and firebombs in villages near Israeli settlements. Nabi Saleh is one such village, long known for its grassroots protest movement. Israel’s crackdown affected the entire community, where parents come to learn, generation after generation, that they’re powerless to protect their children.