Posted on 04/05/2005 10:11:15 AM PDT by SmithL
Israeli troops beat five unarmed Palestinian traffic police in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday, a witness and officials said, throwing them to the ground and hitting one with a rifle butt.
After the beating, which lasted several minutes, the soldiers shackled the policemen and hauled them away in an army jeep. The incident prompted dozens of Palestinians to throw rocks and bottles at the soldiers.
An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the incident said about 12 Israeli soldiers approached the policemen and ordered them to leave the area.
When the policemen refused, the soldiers began to remove them by force, at times beating them, dragging one policemen on the ground while kicking him, and hitting another on the head with the butt of an M-16 rifle.
An Israeli military official present at the scene said on condition of anonymity that the Palestinian policemen were not allowed to be in the area where the beating took place, and that despite repeated demands for them to leave, they refused.
Asked why the soldiers assaulted the policemen, the military official said, "if they don't want to come with us nicely, then we will take them not so nicely."
Dozens of Palestinian bystanders threw rocks and bottles at the soldiers, who responded by firing tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd. At least three protesters were treated for tear gas inhalation by Palestinian medics.
Hebron's police chief, Awni Samara, said the policemen were in the Palestinian-controlled area of city and were not violating any agreements with Israel.
"We are here to serve our people, and what the Israeli army did today is an indication that they do not want peace or stability in the area," said Samara.
And where are the PA "police" recruited from?
Abbas Decree to recruit all "Wanted" by Israel in the PNA Institutions
Thought you might like the pic in post 1.
The cop on the right has his grip; the cop on the left is about to hit O Soto Gari.
(Or at least it looks that way!)
:-)
Was Talal Abu Rahma the photographer/witness?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32137
Was the reporter Faid Abu Shimalla?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=32137
Please forgive my extreme skepticism of the AP's reporting in the so-called occupied territories.
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Pali whack-a-mole sounds like fun.
Sounds reasonable enough. A lot more reasonable in fact than the oft-repeated Pali martyr rant about blowing up Israelis with their pure bodies and a belt full of AIDS infected nails.
It would be interesting to know what the issue was in the area -- although it wouldn't change my base opinion, or anyone else's.
Uh....yeah....the Israelis just wandered in and picked on some perfectly innocent PA policemen. Sure.
The source link does not go to the article posted.
The picture stayed the same
I don't seen anything here AP
Move along LOL!
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