Israeli corporal Ari Ben Reuven says: “break every bone” of crying Palestinian boy seized on way to school

Ali Abunimah 24 March 2013

The Electronic Intifada has captured even more horrifyingly racist and violent statements by Israeli soldiers on Facebook targeting Palestinian children as part of our effort to document this widespread phenomenon.

On the day US President Barack Obama arrived for his Israel visit last week, Israeli occupation forces in Hebron violently seized and detained dozens of Palestinian children, some aged as young as eight, on their way to school.

The harrowing video, above, of the Israeli army attack on the children went viral on YouTube.

B’Tselem, the Israeli organization that documents and criticizes some of Israel’s human rights abuses and which posted the video, condemned the mass arrest of the children as “unlawful” and said that some of the children had been taken to interrogation centers where severe and systematic abuses, including holding children in solitary confinement and harsh interrogation without parents or lawyers present, is the norm.

In previous cases, Palestinian children have testified that under such conditions they have been forced to confess by Israeli interrogators to false charges of throwing rocks or molotov cocktails and pressed to inform on friends and family.

“A bullet in his mouth”

Givati Brigade’s Yoni Gordon thinks Palestinian child should be put on his knees and shot in the mouth. (Source)

When the video of the children’s arrest was posted on the popular Israeli Facebook page “We are all in favor of death to terrorists,” a hotbed of racist incitement, it provided an opportunity for dozens of Israelis, once again, to express horrifyingly violent views (see the screenshot of all the comments in context).

Some of those posting comments were Israeli soldiers. Here are a few that indicate the mindset of these soldiers:

Kfir Brigade’s Oren Degani, seen with a child, thinks Palestinian children are “little shits.” (Source)

Oren Degani, whose Facebook profile contains information suggesting he is a member of the “Black Scorpions” unit of the Israeli army’s Kfir Brigade, clearly believes the Palestinian children deserve such treatment and that they are all presumed guilty. He wrote under the video:

They pretend to be innocent saints who did nothing. I know this from my reserve duty. They throw a firebomb and when you catch them they cry and swear on Muhammad that they didn’t do anything … little shits.

Corporal Ari Ben Reuven’s profile image includes the motto “The road to peace is paved with telescopic gunsights” and “Let the army mow [them] down!” (Source)

Ari Ben Reuven, whose Facebook profile indicates he is a corporal in the Israeli army, was even more blunt:

I’d break every one of his bones

Ron Shwartz had a similar reaction and observed:

More violence is needed. Where are the clubs to break their legs?

Yoni Gordon, a member of the Givati Brigade, had simple advice for how to deal with a Palestinian child:

Put him on his knees and shoot a bullet into his mouth.

Avisaf Hillel (center) misses his army days of abusing Palestinian children. (Source)

Avisaf Hillel, whose Facebook profile says he attends “Ariel University,” a settler institution in the occupied West Bank, and is a die-hard supporter of Israel’s Beitar Jerusalem football club whose fans are notorious for their racist mob rampages, looked back fondly and with a touch of sarcasm on his time in the army when he was mistreating Palestinian children:

How I miss those days!!! But during my time in regular military service, they couldn’t get a peep out of their mouth!! We took care of them real well!!

Jewish Agency’s social media propagandist Avi Mayer also defends child abuse

Another of those defending and justifying the soldiers’ brutality seen in the video was the Jewish Agency’s social media propandist Avi Mayer – himself an American volunteer in the Israeli army.

In a series of tweets, Mayer, a former Israeli army spokesman, suggested that accusations leveled against the children by the Israeli occupation army should be taken as incontrovertible truth that the children were criminals who deserved such shocking treatment and that Palestinian children should be viewed as guilty until proven innocent of whatever the Israeli army accuses them.

Not surprisingly, Mayer has absolutely refused to criticize the Israeli army’s routine, documented abuses of children or the horrifying statements of his comrades in arms.

With thanks to Dena Shunra for additional research.

Also see: “Castrate them!” Burn them!” “Bullet in the head!”: Facebook Israelis react to photo of Palestinian kids.

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Comments

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Bosco replied on

I think it is becoming more trendy for Israeli soldiers and Representatives to express their hatred towards Palestinians over social networks. No wonder they'll have a hashtag to support their campaign of hate and it won't be a big surprise if it gets viral (or trending) over twitter and instagram.

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lidia replied on

You see, they are just peacfully occupy Palestinian land, turning Palestinian life into hell, and some horrible 8 years old Palestinians are nasty enough to attack them! Mayer is really brillirant in his hasbara.

When I was a shoolchilde I had read a book translated from Chinese - "The Big Lin and the Small Lin", and there was an accusation : "he attacked the boot of his majesty with his breast"! The author supposed even the small children could see the value of such "accusition"!

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michael hall replied on

i like that...i use the metaphor of a jackboot on a throat. 'How can you discuss peace with someone when they have their jackboot across your throat and you can't talk?'

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Tom replied on

Anyone who serve in the Israeli military is a coward and child abuser. In any decent, civilised society they would be locked away to protect the children.

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Peter Loeb replied on

It has long been clear to most of us that Israel wants no "peace" at all. It wants
to "negotiate" with a puppet-like Palestine after haviung tortured and beaten
Palestinians and while standing victorious with boot on Palestine's throat.
Israel and all who support it deserve nothing but contempt.

PS: EI deserves thanks for exposing the depth of Israeli hate.

Ali Abunimah

Co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of The Battle for Justice in Palestine, now out from Haymarket Books.

Also wrote One Country: A Bold-Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse. Opinions are mine alone.