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IDF Soldiers laugh while commanding military trained attack dog to Bite a 16 year old Palestinian boy. Animal rights group calls on international community to Stop the import of “Attack Dogs” to Israel
A video showing Israeli defense force solders laughing while commanding a military trained German Sheppard to attack a 16-year-old Palestinian boy has sparked outrage, and an animal rights group has called on the international community to pressure the Dutch national government to halt the sale of “attack dogs” to Israel.
A video leaked in December apparently shows IDF soldiers laughing while commanding trained attack dogs to attack and “bite” a Palestinian teenager. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack, while Israel’s chief military prosecutor reportedly ordered an investigation into the incident.
The video which went viral after former ultra Nazi nationalist Knesset member and Israeli politician Michael Ben-Ari shared it to his Facebook page with the caption: “The soldiers taught the little terrorist a lesson.” He then asked his followers to spread the video so that “every little terrorist who plans to harm our soldiers learns the price.“ The video was removed, but not before it was copied and shared on the internet.
According to the Palestinian WAFA news agency the attack originally took place on December 23, 2014 in a ‘buffer zone’ 10 kilometers north of Hebron, between Beit Ummar, a town in the southern part of the West Bank, and a nearby Israeli settlement Karmei Tzur. An Israeli settlement site which has been a point of contention ever since it was built on land illegally confiscated from the Palestinian residents in 1984.
The footage shows 16-year old Hamzeh Abu Hashem crying out as Israeli forces command a K9 to repeatedly attack him. At a point in the video even the dog becomes apprehensive, showing more compassion for life then the IDF, as an Israeli ‘defense solider can be seen holding the boy while another unidentified man can be heard saying, “Who’s a chicken, eh? Who’s a chicken? Great. Very good.” then the unidentified man can be heard telling the dog to“GET HIM” & “BITE HIM”.
Translations by http://www.haaretz.com/
Full Length Video.
WARNING: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. YOU MAY FIND THE VIDEO DISTURBING
A senior officer serving in the territories said that the soldiers were engaged in a pre-approved ambush to catch firebomb throwers. He asserted that sending the dog was justified, and that it was a “measured step with a low risk of causing irreparable harm relative to shooting.” He said the unit’s behavior thereafter was unacceptable. The officer, who like others spoke to eyewitnesses, said he believed the off-camera voice belonged to a soldier, and that the army would take steps to discipline him .
The army announced it would investigate the incident in wake of the video’s release. According to human rights Reporter B’tselem, the soldiers had GoPro cameras on their helmets, and questioned whether or not the army knew about the soldiers’ behavior well before the video came surfaced. Abu Hashem’s father told Haaretz his son was arrested December 23 around Beit Umar for throwing stones. He was sentenced to six months imprisonment and fined 4,000 shekels ($1000). His father said he was hospitalized at Hadassah hospital before being transferred to Ofer prison.
Hamzeh Abu Hashem Photo credit- Alex Levac Haaretz
Hamzeh’s parents didn’t see the dog’s attack; that took place in a yard between two houses. Ahmed did try to prevent his son’s arrest, but to no avail. The parents saw an Israeli ambulance arrive from the direction of the settlement, but could not see Hamzeh being put into the vehicle. All they saw was the soldiers hugging the dogs.
The next time they saw Hamzeh was three weeks later, in the courtroom at Ofer. He told them that the soldiers had attacked and wounded him, and that he had been taken to a hospital. Hamzeh showed his parents his wounds: in one shoulder, below the armpit, on his arm and leg. “He’s so little,” his mother sighs. He cried when he saw her, she adds. Since then she’s seen him only twice, both times in the courtroom. Detainees are not allowed visitors, not even if they are youths and not even if they have been wounded by dogs.
Of her reaction when she saw the video last week, Hamda says: “I went crazy when I saw my son. I went crazy, when I saw what the soldiers did to him. I am his mother. I know what he is going through. I’m sure he isn’t sleeping at night because he is afraid. I am not sleeping, either. I am sure he expected his mother to help him, but I can do nothing.” We visited the site of the incident with Muhammad Awwad, a local volunteer for B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization. Awwad, who also works in the local mosque, doesn’t go anywhere without his B’Tselem camcorder, to document every injustice. In this case, he saw the soldiers and dogs but could only film them from a distance, until they disappeared between the two houses; the video clip in question was made by the soldiers themselves. The dogs, and the soldiers in their wake, chased Hamzeh while the other children scattered every which way. Running for his life, like an animal being hunted by a pack of hungry wolves, the teenager turned right, the soldiers and dogs in hot pursuit. There between the buildings, the soldiers shouted to the dog, “Bite him, bite him!” and the dog clamped down its jaws on him. In Palestine Attack Dogs are being used as IDF weapons – activist
A projects coördinator for Breaking the Silence, a former IDF soldier left-wing organization, has condemned the attacks but confirmed that such incidents are not unusual.
“While you are a part of the army, those kind of events happen. It’s not unusual. When you use an army to control a population, when you create an occupation, that’s the kind of reality that comes out,” Achiya Schatz told RT.
A Soldier’s Best Friend, is a Palestinian’s Worst Nightmare
This Week: Rights group urges end to Dutch sale of ‘attack dogs’ to Israel
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian animal rights group has called on the international community to pressure the Dutch government to halt the sale of “attack dogs” to Israel.
Said Ahmad Safi, Executive Director of the Palestinian Animal League, said in a statement that dogs exported by European countries — especially the Netherlands — have long been used by the Israeli military as “living, breathing weapons — leading to devastating injuries on many civilians.”
Palestinian human rights organization, Al Haq, has reportedly carried out attempts to sway the Dutch government to place a ban on the export of the dogs for such use.
“As a result of communication between Al Haq and the Dutch government, officials in the Netherlands have suggested that they will consider placing restrictions on the export of dogs to Israel, but no firm decision has been reached, nor has any action been taken to date,” PAL said in a statement.
The restrictions would join one of several placed by European countries on trade with Israel, the European Union most recently passing a decision to label products made in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Such measures are part of a boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS) pushed by activists and increasingly by politicians, in effort to place pressure on Israel to stop ongoing violations against Palestinians.
In Response, The Palestinian Animal League has released a ‘ Template Letter addressed To: Lilianne Plouman, the Dutch Minister of Trade, and Sharon Dijksma the Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure and the Environment urging the Minister of trade to put a stop to the exportation of trained“Attack Dogs” from the Netherlands to the Israeli military.
To:
We, the undersigned, demand that the Dutch Government take immediate steps to ban the export of trained “attack dogs” to Israel in the interests of both human rights and animal protection. Dogs exported from your country are reported to have been used during attacks on Palestinians over a number of years. This not only places the people and dogs involved in unacceptably dangerous situations, potentially violating human rights, but also has a wider impact on animal welfare in Palestinian society.
The distorted and violent image of dogs which has been created by their cruel use as weapons against Palestinian citizens by the occupying forces has a serious impact on the way in which Palestinian civil society views and treats dogs; particularly stray populations, who are subject to lethal control. While dogs continue to be used and presented as a source of fear, pain and injury to Palestinian citizens, the abuse, injury and killing of dogs will inevitably continue.
In the interests of both human rights and animal protection, we implore to end your complicity in this cruel trade.
Yours Sincerely
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19:48 Leaked footage shows Israeli soldiers ‘setting dogs on … www.independent.co.uk/…/leaked-footage-shows-israeli… ‘The Independent
“Over 8,000 Palestinian children have been arrested since 2000. Between 500 and 700 Palestinian children are detained every year in the Israeli military prison system. Shocking statistics“