Rights and Accountability 7 February 2013
Ynet reported:
The soldiers are seen going out of their way to disturb the residents’ peace.
The video shows the soldiers, some in the jeep and some on foot, patrolling the village’s empty streets and occasionally sounding the jeep’s deafening horn.
Moments later, one of the soldiers is heard shouting “Sabah al-noor, Urif!” (“good morning Urif”) in the vehicle’s PA system, turning on a siren, and calling on everyone to “wake up!”
One of the soldiers is also seen throwing a stun grenade at an empty area.
No riots of public disturbances took place during the incident, nor are the soldiers seen as facing any danger that warrants the use of what is essentially part of the crowd-control protocols.
No arrests were made in the area, either.
Frequent harassment, total impunity
Israeli media reports said the soldiers were “reprimanded” for this and other malicious acts that took place in December, but given the documented impunity Israeli soldiers enjoy for their crimes against Palestinians, such a reprimand would likely be completely meaningless and meant for no other purpose than public relations.
Palestinians in Urif are habitually victims of unprovoked violent attacks by Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers and last year the village mosque was set on fire in an apparent attack by Israeli settlers.
The incident in this video came to light via the legal advocacy group Yesh Din which lodged a complaint on behalf of villagers.
It also appears to be far from an isolated incident. Israeli occupation soldiers have previously confessed to starting riots and shooting at children just for amusement.
Yesh Din recently reported that of 103 investigations launched against Israeli occupation soldiers for alleged crimes against Palestinians in 2012, not one resulted in a single indictment, meaning there is literally zero accountability for members of the self-proclaimed “most moral army in the world.”
Comments
truly disgusting people!
Permalink gabi replied on
truly disgusting people!