Al Fawwar Refugee Camp was established in 1949, after the Palestinian Catastrophe (Al Nakba) in 1948. We were shown around by Khoulod Al Titi, who works as an English teacher.

One boy we talked to was released from an Israeli jail two weeks earlier. He was there for 5 months accused of throwing stones. He said that he was in a cell with 9 other boys and he was the oldest at 17.  He had signed a paper that was in Hebrew so he did not know what he was signing.  In the jail, they had nothing to do all day and could walk in an enclosed area for one hour/day.  He said one 15 yr-old was sentenced to 4 years.

There are night raids by the army in the camp. The army would blast down your door in the middle of the night and just come in and search for weapons or pictures or anything that they may think of. It is very scary for the families. The boy was taken from his home at night and they had no idea why. His parents did not see him for several weeks and that was at court. They could not visit him the whole time he was in jail.

We also received word that another boy was arrested two days before our visit. Again for throwing stones at an army vehicle.