Forced to slap themselves and crouch on the floor, blindfolded and with hands bound are but some of what the Palestinians taste at the hands of the Israeli border police.
"Yallah, start, do it hard!" a YouTube video shows an Israeli soldier ordering a Palestinian teen to slap himself, reported Haaretz on Friday, June 19.
Then, the boy is ordered to sing to the jubilance of the Israeli border guards.
"Say ‘Ana behibak Mishmar Hagvul’ ["I love the Border Police? in a mix of Arabic and Hebrew]. Say it!"
Obeying the orders, the helpless boy goes on slapping himself, to the laughter of the soldiers.
"Again! Ana behibak Mishmar Hagvul," the soldier says.
"Say ‘Wahad hummus wahad ful’", the soldier orders the boy to complete the rhyme. "Ana behibak Mishmar Hagvul."
A second clip shows the face of an Israeli soldier as he speaks into the camera: "Shalom. I am now at [checkpoint] 51."
In the background, a Palestinian is seen crossing the road at a distance.
"Run to him quick," the photographer urges the border guard.
"Hey, there’s an illegal − I want to show how I catch an illegal," the soldier says and starts to chase the Palestinian.
The soldier is later seen returning to the Jeep with the youngster.
"A Hamas terrorist has just been captured. Wow!" the solider says, standing behind the fearful Palestinians.
"No, I am not Hamas, I am not Hamas."
A third video, filmed by soldiers from the Lavi battalion in November 2007, also features photos of Palestinians crouching on the floor of a room, blindfolded and with their hands bound.
In one photo, an Israeli soldier appears smiling next to one of the bound men.
Common
An Israeli officer said that the abusing of Palestinians at borders is common among border guards.
"(When Border Policemen detain a Palestinian for a check) until he [the policeman] records his ID number, [in order] to amuse the guys they bring in a new recruit to run the show – They line them up in a row and udrub (beating)" he said.
He said that none of the soldiers have been punished for the abuses.
"No, who would say that? They take it as clowning, you know."
The officer said that the worst acts of humiliation are done without recording.
"From that point of view, yes, but it’s a relative thing, which is still at a higher level than the other things they do, which are more humiliating."
"(There are ) A lot of things. Blows, ‘sit on my knees,’ ‘lower your head,’ ‘pull down your pants,’ ‘strip.’ In my opinion, those are worse things than singing."
The border guard is part of the Israeli police and is responsible for preventing Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from entering Israel illegally, including arresting workers without permits.
The border guards have in the past been implicated in violence against Palestinians.
In April 2008, two border guards were sentenced to up to six and a half years in jail for the murder of a Palestinian teenager.
The guards hurled Imran Abu Hamdieh, 18, from their jeep as it sped through the West Bank town of Hebron at 80 kilometers (50 miles) an hour.
(IslamOnline.net and Newspapers)
