Why did it take months to free a US teen from Israeli prison?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 3 December 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Palestinian-American Mohammed Ibrahim was just 15 years old when he was arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank for allegedly throwing rocks. He was freed after more than nine months. But his story isn’t unique. Each year, Israel systematically detains hundreds of Palestinian children and prosecutes them in military courts. So what did it take to free Mohammed?
In this episode:
- Zeyad Kadur, uncle of Mohammed Ibrahim
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Haleema Shah, Noor Wazwaz, and Tracie Hunte, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Diana Ferrero, Farhan Rafid, Fatima Shafiw, Tamara Khandaker, and our host, Natasha Del Toro. It was edited by Kylene Kiang.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Joe Plourde mixed this episode. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, the fight to free a Palestinian-American teen from an Israeli prison. |
| 0:16.0 | That U.S. citizenship didn't help him much. He was still there for nine and a half months. |
| 0:22.2 | Muhammad Ibrahim was 15 when Israeli soldiers arrested him in the occupied West Bank. |
| 0:27.9 | What did it take to free him? |
| 0:29.4 | And why are there so many other Palestinian children still behind bars? |
| 0:36.5 | I'm Natasha Del Toro, and this is the take. |
| 0:40.3 | Hi, before we continue with today's show, please remember to leave us a comment and let us |
| 0:52.3 | know what you think about today's episode and what kinds of stories you want us to do next. And if you're on the podcast app, let us know where you're listening from. And while you're there, don't forget to give us a five-star review. It helps people find the show. |
| 1:08.3 | My name is Zad Kedar. I'm Muhammad I'm Moh'm Muhammad Ibrahim's uncle. I live in Burvard County, Florida. |
| 1:13.7 | Zad, it's such a pleasure to have you here with us on the take. I'm actually in Florida as well, |
| 1:18.9 | not too far from you. Not too far, yeah. Not too far. Why don't you tell us where your family is |
| 1:25.2 | from originally and the connection to Florida. |
| 1:29.7 | So our family is originally from a Mazarajarkia, which is a village or now a town on the northeast side of Ramallah in the West Bank. |
| 1:39.1 | We grew up in Florida and we kind of have like a tradition where our parents send us back home at a certain age. |
| 1:48.0 | To learn the language, the culture, the religion, and to see the family members who aren't here in the States. |
| 1:55.0 | I myself, I was there from 1992 to 1996 and they go back every couple of years and visit. |
| 2:01.9 | And generations before us were doing that. |
| 2:07.0 | Now, the U.S. connection is really significant because Muhammad was released last week after being |
| 2:13.9 | arrested by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank. And he was held in prison there for nine months. |
| 2:21.8 | I know that no one in the family was allowed to visit him, |
| 2:24.7 | but that you were able to video with him right after he got out. |
... |
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