July 5, 2012

An Israeli Border Police officer has been caught on video kicking a Palestinian child in the southern West Bank. The police have launched a probe into the incident, documented by an Israeli human rights organization.

The footage shows a 9-year-old boy walking down the road when a uniformed police officer runs up to him and grabs him by the arm, causing the boy to fall on the ground. Another policeman then walks up to them and kicks the screaming child.

After that, the soldiers let the child run away, and leave the site.

In response to the incident, the Israeli Border Police issued a statement denouncing the policemen's behavior, which it claims “contrasts the values of the force.” 

“The Border Police commander instructed on setting up a team to investigate the incident immediately and its conclusions are due in the coming days," the statement said.

The boy, Abdul-Rahman Burqan, testified to the Israeli police that the soldiers chased him after he swore at one of the officers. He also claimed an Israeli soldier had stomped on his hand after he and his friend were stopped at a checkpoint in a separate incident a month ago.

The video was recorded by a volunteer of the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (B'Tselem) on June 29 in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank. The organization distributes cameras to Palestinians so that they can film possible instances of abuse carried out by Israeli security forces and settlers. 

According to the cameraman, he began to shoot the video when he saw the officer ambushing the boy behind a wall.

Some reports suggest that the boy was throwing rocks at police officers before the camera started rolling.

http://www.rt.com/news/israel-police-officer-kicks-palestinian-chil...