What does it feel like to be led away from your home by a soldier, while blindfolded?

What happens when a military occupation looms over an entire childhood?

OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest.

Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper.

After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.

Two years after this film was produced, on May 17, 2021, Israeli forces shot and killed 17-year-old Obaida Jawabra, the subject of this short film. Supporters from around the world, who learned about Obaida's life through this film, joined Defense for Children International - Palestine in mourning his killing.

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