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Israel collectively punishes Palestinians for kidnapping

The Israelis have slapped travel bans on many Palestinians in the West Bank in response to the June 12 kidnapping of three teenagers.
An Israeli soldier stands guard in the West Bank city of Hebron June 15, 2014. Israel sent more troops to the occupied West Bank on Saturday to step up searches for three Israeli teenagers believed to have been abducted by Palestinians, with a military source saying it was not known if they were dead or alive.REUTERS/ Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: MILITARY) - RTR3TUFF

Seif Abu Arqoub, 5, was born in Amman while his parents were students at the University of Jordan. Upon completion of their degrees, the Arqoub family returned to Nablus, the hometown of Abla, Seif's mother. Abla teaches at Al-Najah University in Nablus and Mohammed, Seif's father, is a lecturer at Birzeit University. Except for short visits to his grandparents’ home in the Hebron district town of Dura, the young Abu Arqoub only knows Amman and Nablus.

But this week, the Abu Arqoub family has been collectively punished. A planned summer vacation before the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan was abruptly canceled. Mohammed wrote on his Facebook page that because of his birth in the Hebron district, the family will not be allowed to leave via the Allenby Bridge to Jordan, the only border crossing that Palestinians in the West Bank are allowed to use. The collective punishment on all Hebronites comes as Israel takes revenge on the Palestinian population following the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers on June 12.

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