PALI YOUTH WANT TO GET LOCKED UP IN CUSHY ISRAELI JAILS

Palestinian Youth Seek to Get Locked Up to Get Away - Mark Mackinnon (Globe and Mail-Canada)
Nablus teenager Mohammed Kharaz, 17, heard from a kid in his class that if you get yourself arrested by the Israeli army, they send you to a prison with digital television, interesting books, and even a decent soccer field. To Mohammed, it sounded like a dream vacation, so on Feb. 25, he tucked a kitchen knife under his shirt and headed toward an Israeli checkpoint seeking arrest. "It's a real phenomenon," said Jacob Dallal, a spokesman for the Israeli army. He said soldiers had seen dozens of similar cases. "Ofer [Prison] was like paradise....We had a good time playing football and table tennis in the big courtyard. I started reading good books in there," Mohammed said. He was crestfallen when his father paid a $250 bond to get him released early.