Beating & abuse

Soldiers detain demonstrator in a-Nabi Saleh after funeral of Mustafa a-Tamimi, 11 December 2011. Photo: Anne Paq, Activestills.org

Violence by Israeli security forces toward Palestinians is not new. Most cases are of relatively low-grade abuse: a slap, a kick, an insult, a pointless delay at a checkpoint or humiliating conduct. This type of abusive behavior has gradually become a part of everyday reality for Palestinians of the occupied territories. On occasion there are also cases of more serious violence, which Israeli authorities condemn but often do not take real measures against the perpetrators.

Beating and abuse of Palestinians by the Israeli Security Forces

Detention of Palestinians who complained of trespassing settlers, 2013

On 24 April 2013, as has been a frequent occurrence of late, settlers from Giv’at Gal came onto the privately owned land of the Zaro family, of Hebron. The landowners called the police to report the trespassing. Israeli soldiers came to the scene and, rather than sending the settlers away, arrested the Palestinians. The police then insisted on detaining the Zaros overnight. Part of the incident was filmed by one of the men detained, Sh'hab a-Din Zaro, a volunteer in B’Tselem’s camera project. The detainees were released from custody the following day by a military judge after this video footage was presented in court by their legal counsel, Adv. Nery Ramati of the Gaby Lasky law firm, and it was proven that the there was no justification for the arrest, which involved violence towards one of the Zaros.