Another Violent Attack on a Palestinian by the Israeli Occupation Forces Goes Unpunished

Video of brutal and wrongful arrest

Annie Robbins on October 24, 2015

Soldiers beat Ansar Aasi, 25. el-Bireh, Palestine Oct.6, 2015

At 1:15 p.m. on the afternoon of October 6, Ansar Aasi, 25, was stocking supplies at the cleaning products company where he was employed in al-Bireh, a Palestinian city adjacent to Ramallah. Watch at 22 seconds into the video, as Aasi begins to exit the warehouse; taking one step onto the street he then cautiously retreats into the enclosed storage facility. Pensively he waits and watches the street. Ten seconds later Aasi raises his open palms. He has been spotted and targeted for arrest by Israeli soldiers ostensibly on the hunt for Palestinian stone throwers. In the scene that follows Aasi is violently mauled by a group of soldiers as one stands guard outside.

By 55 seconds, four soldiers are inside the warehouse with Aasi and one outside. Aasi is offscreen with one of those soldiers – backed into a corner – we can’t see him. At 1:21 two of the soldiers are offscreen with Aasi as a 5th soldier enters the warehouse. At 1:36 the sixth soldier enters. By 2:09 one of the soldiers pulls another soldier off Aasi — but it is not clear why nor what the soldiers are doing huddled around Aasi’s form. Aasi’s leg is seen protruding from the mass and a soldier is yanking at it and then begins kicking him at 2:43. At least 4 soldiers are offscreen and they drag Aasi out by the legs. One soldier snaps a photo, another rams his rifle into Aasi (4:26) 6 or 7 times as he squirms on the ground. Another soldier kicks Aasi in the head repeatedly.

The next day Ansar ‘Aasi was admitted into Hadassah Ein Karem hospital for treatment of wounds he sustained. In total he spent 5 days incarcerated before he was released.

B’Tselem: Palestinian youth violently and wrongfully arrested for five days because the Israeli Police didn’t bother to check his alibi:

‘Aasi was held in detention for two days before even being taken for interrogation at the Binyamin police station. Police interrogators there told him that three soldiers identified him as a stone thrower. In spite of his denials, the police did not bother to check his alibi claim, in spite of the existence of footage. Only following an arrest extension hearing at the Ofer military court, was the police willing to view the footage, which was brought to them on Friday, 9.10.2015. ‘Aasi was released unconditionally on Sunday, 11.10, after five days in wrongful detention.

B’Tselem does not know whether the soldiers who arrested ‘Aasi were held accountable for assaulting him and making up false charges.

And yet, Aasi is a lucky guy. Why? Because the day before, in another case of ‘mistaken identity’, Israeli forces shot 13-year-old Abed Obeidallah in the chest, killing him almost instantly. Because Aasi’s violent arrest and abduction, caught on camera, confirmed his alibi. How rare, how rare indeed.

‘The Most Moral Army in the World’ Savagely Beats Palestinian Man

You can imagine what the soldiers who carried out this beating will face when they meet their commander.  A Police probe with the threat of years imprisonment?   Don’t be silly, they’re not Palestinians.  A blight on their military careers?  Certainly not.  That would be far too harsh.

They will get a smack on the wrists.  And why?  Not because of what they did but because they allowed themselves to be filmed whilst doing it.  Imagine a group of Palestinians who had done this to a soldier.  They would be facing years of imprisonment, torture, beatings and be told that they had ‘blood on their hands.’

But rest assured.  These soldiers will be treated as tainted heroes and warned to ensure that in future, when beating Palestinians, that they take elementary precautions against being filmed.

What was that about ‘a light unto the nations’ Isaiah 49:6

Tony Greenstein

IDF probes beating of unarmed Palestinian man

Video shows man being hit repeatedly by troops during West Bank demonstration; army calls behavior ‘inconsistent with expectations of soldiers’

The Times of Israel Itamar Sharon June 13, 2015, 4:50 pm 17

A Palestinian man is beaten and restrained by IDF soldiers during a violent demonstration in the Jelazoun refugee camp, near Ramallah, on June 12, 2015. (screen capture: Palestine TV)

The Israeli military said Saturday it was investigating the beating of an unarmed Palestinian man by a group of soldiers during a confrontation a day earlier in the Jalazoun refugee camp, near the West Bank town of Ramallah.

In a video of Friday’s incident posted online by Palestine TV, the Palestinian man is seen being repeatedly hit by soldiers, including one soldier who strikes him near the back of the head with the butt of his rifle and another who punches him in the face as he lies helpless on the ground.

The man is initially seen arguing with soldiers, when one of them begins screaming obscenities at him and proceeds to attack and hit him. The man does not back down and scuffles with the troops, and the same soldier then threatens him while continuing to hit him: “One more word and I’ll f*** your mother! One word! Well, talk!”

The video then cuts to the man being surrounded and hit by a group of soldiers. While being restrained by three soldiers, he is hit by a fourth with the butt of a rifle, causing him to fall to the ground. It is unclear in the video whether he is struck in the upper back, the neck or the head. He is then punched in the face by another soldier while on the ground, before his face is pushed into the dirt while the troops appear to cuff him. Later the man is seen being led away by the soldiers.

According to Palestinian sources quoted by Ynet News, the man confronted the army forces due to his anger over his home being used by troops to take cover from stone-throwers, and his family being hit by tear gas.

The army said Saturday it was aware of the incident and was carrying out a thorough investigation of its circumstances, with military sources telling Walla News that soldiers had not reported the violence to their superiors before the video surfaced.

“Those involved will be brought before the brigade commander tomorrow for a continuing inquiry and investigation, and disciplinary action will be taken against them if need be,” the army said in a statement. “According to an initial investigation, it seems the (soldiers’) behavior was inconsistent with that which is expected of IDF soldiers.”

In the video, soldiers at the scene are seen being pelted with rocks by Palestinian demonstrators. It is unclear whether the rock-throwing began before or after the beating of the Palestinian man.

The military said soldiers were attacked by some 50-70 rock throwers in the demonstration at the camp and that one soldier was lightly wounded. The troops used crowd-dispersal means to break up the protest.

Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces troops on the border of the Gaza Strip shot and wounded a Palestinian man who approached the border fence and did not stop despite warning shots fired in the air, the army said Saturday. The man was shot in the legs and was evacuated by the military to a hospital in Beersheba for medical treatment.