By anyone's standards beating disabled people is the lowest of the low.

The YMCA in Beit Sahour has a rehabilitation program takes in clients from all over the West Bank. The majority of these people suffer from severe psychological traumas ranging from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) to trauma brought about by amputations and other severe conflict related injuries. The rehabilitation centre is not only a clinic for treatment, it also offers the clients the ability to take a break from the more chaotic areas of the West Bank in which they live - a rare opportunity for, as a friend who works for the Y put it, 'a holiday from the war'. Anyone who has seen the damage which war can do to a teenagers mental state will be able to appreciate how important this it.

I've been to the center for a visit and the atmosphere is truly wonderful. Despite the initial somber impression made by all the wheel chairs and crutches used for mobility, you soon notice that the young people enjoy their time at the center. Holidays in Palestine are not common place, yet here the atmosphere is one of laughing, music and games, as the young people seize the opportunity for some badly needed relaxation. This is why I was so disturbed when I was told that three of the centers clients, all teenagers, had recently been assaulted at a check point whilst going home to spend a weekend with their families.

I cant name the clients obviously, but the assaults were as follows;
- The first client, who on top of his trauma also suffers from Kidney and lung damage from a previous 'discipline', was beaten for several minutes without being arrested or accusations being leveled against him. He was later collected by an ambulance after it became clear that he was seriously ill.
- A second client was beaten and arrested because a member of his family is a wanted man. He is not a wanted man, but the occupation forces don't like to nit-pick about details.
- The third client also received a heavy beating but was able to proceed to his home after it became clear that his traveling partner had been seriously injured.

The reasons for this can only be theorized about. It is highly unlikely that three young men being treated for trauma provoked the heavily armed occupation forces in some way whilst trying to return home to their families. These acts of barbarity can have several causes, but no real reasons ever emerge. I could talk about the 'war desensitisation' which grips troops who have been in the field too long. Or maybe the fact that the Israeli education system and media de-humanise the Palestinians to the point where this treatment is acceptable. We can never know the specific motivation in these particular troops minds.

What is certain is that cases like this prove the need to end the occupation. How can there be peace when every 'checkpoint' is manned by heavily armed teenagers who have been conditioned to think that the local population are savages who want them all dead?