Israel Has Imprisoned a 16-Year-Old Palestinian-American Boy for Two Weeks
Adam Karakrah is one of at least two Americans in Israeli prison – both held while Trump hosted Netanyahu for the eighth time.
Adam Wajeh Abdelfattah Karakrah, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen residing in the occupied West Bank who had been arrested by Israeli authorities last month, was set to be released from Israeli prison on Monday. The family had paid his bail, and he had even boarded the bus for his release, his lawyer tells Zeteo.
And then, at the last minute, Israeli officials tied Karakrah to another case. And imprisoned him again.
The decision comes two weeks after Israeli forces detained Karakrah, alleging he threw rocks at Israeli cars and military vehicles. The details of his arrest have not been previously reported.
Soldiers raided the family’s home in the occupied West Bank town of Sinjil, northeast of Ramallah, on the morning of Karakrah’s sister’s graduation party. The soldiers threatened his mother and sisters, scoured through the family’s phones, interrogated them, and pointed the barrels of their guns at them, Karakrah’s family says. “When I showed them his U.S. passport and birth certificate, they didn’t even ask [about it], they threw them in my face,” one of Karakrah sisters tells Zeteo.
When the soldiers led Karakrah away, they blew kisses at the teen’s mother.
‘Just Meters Away From My Son’
Karakrah was set to be freed Monday after the family paid a 5,000 shekel (nearly $1,700) bail. But then, at the last moment, Israel decided not to release him.
“Even though I was just meters away from my son, the Israeli army did not bother to let me see him or inform me that his detention had been extended,” his mother tells Zeteo, adding that the family had to pay another 500 shekels to get to and from the prison, which they waited at for five hours. “This followed hours of a long journey and waiting – under harsh conditions and amidst the painful agonizing psychological strain experienced by the child Adam Karakrah – after the immense joy of his release and a long period of patience only for him to be taken back among the prisoners.”
According to Karakrah’s attorney, Israeli authorities closed their original case against Karakrah, but they are now holding him for an entirely new case, alleging that he was involved in rioting and other activities targeting Israelis.
The family otherwise has little knowledge of what specifically prompted the re-detention, or any other details related to the allegations. Karakrah is among the more than 300 Palestinians minors Israel is currently holding in prisons notorious for abuse, according to Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer.
After re-detaining Karakrah, Israeli authorities interrogated him further, according to his lawyer. They have now extended his detention until at least Thursday, when they are supposed to provide an update on whether they will seek to extend his detention even further, or open a new case before the court.
Karakrah’s family reached out to the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem for help the same day he was taken. The embassy told the family they were aware of the case and were in contact with authorities. On July 30, a representative from the embassy visited Karakrah. Afterwards, the representative told the family they cannot interfere with matters of the law, but can check on Karakrah’s health and safety.
The U.S. Embassy and State Department, as well as Israeli authorities, did not immediately respond to Zeteo’s requests for comment.
Karakrah’s father and brother live in Chicago. The 16-year-old was supposed to join them in the U.S. after his sister graduated. Most of their family are U.S. citizens.
Not Only American Detained by Israel
Karakrah is not the only American in Israeli detention. American Sama Safi, 20, remains in Israeli prison after being detained in June during a raid in the middle of the night on her family home in Ramallah. She was held without formal charges for weeks, before Israeli authorities eventually accused her of involvement with a student group that they then allege is affiliated with a terrorist group. Safi denies the allegations.
According to her family, Safi suffers from a chronic medical condition that can cause severe fevers and pain. And after nine weeks, she remains in Israeli prison, with inadequate access to food and medical care.
Such is the context in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his eighth visit to the U.S. since Donald Trump took office again last year. At least two Americans in Israeli prison. At least nine Americans killed by Israeli violence since Oct. 7, 2023. And many more humiliated, brutalized, or disregarded – as Israel’s broader genocidal and land theft campaign continues to terrorize Palestinians.
Zeteo’s Mohammed Abdelbary contributed to this reporting.
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Not that it really matters that he is U.S. citizen, but….where the hell is the U.S. embassy? Oh, right, Bible-thumping Armageddonist Mike Huckabee. There is no small problem that my country can’t make worse.
"Have You No Decency Sir?"
Words uttered to Joe McCarthy during his Commie investigations in the 1950's but nowadays one could ask the same of the entire fascist Republican organization. They have consistently turned askance when it comes to their felon Der Fuhrer with all his sexcapades with his BFF Epstein, let alone the other Congressional scandals. But it's the blatant hypocrisy. victimhood, and "it's only an allegation" that gets them the trophy. They have created a well worn path to moral turpitude where there is no floor to immoral behavior if it gets them votes and power.
Now admittedly the Democrats have had some problems as well, most recently the unvetted Platner, but it seems like they have at least superficially been willing to correct course.
The point is that there seems to be a course shifting in the American electorate, a moral reckoning, where the leading topic like in Hungary, is an intolerance to brazen outright corruption. This moral awakening is unleashing an angry electorate demanding campaign finance reform and an insistence that it's not ok for business as ususal. The Democrats have failed to "read the room" and have been asleep at the wheel when it comes to this demand for morality and in so doing are complicit.