Israeli Border Policemen Film themselves abusing Palestinians

VIDEO: Border Policemen film themselves abusing Palestinians
By Uri Blau, Haaretz Correspondent

Border Policemen have filmed themselves abusing and humiliating Palestinians in videos they have posted on YouTube over the past year.

In one clip uploaded to the video sharing website an Arab youth is shown in arid terrain, slapping himself, while a voice is heard instructing him to say "I love you, Border Police," and "I will f**k you, Palestine," in Arabic. The victim is forced to respond to everything he is ordered to do, to the raucous laughter of the cameraman and his friends, all Border Policemen.

In another video, a Palestinian is seen sitting inside a vehicle reciting the words "One Hummus and one ful [cooked broad beans], I love you Border Police" (which rhymes in Hebrew), while applause and shouting is heard in the background.

In most of the videos the faces of Border Policemen are not shown and the locations of where they were filmed is unclear.

Forcing Palestinians to sing is a common occurrence and is perceived by Border Policeman as quite humorous, it has emerged from recent Haaretz interviews with Border policemen.

The Border Police said in response: "Over the last few years there has been a drop of dozens of percent in the complaints against Border Policemen over the use of unauthorized force and inappropriate behavior.

"The Border Police has made it a personal mission to uphold values of maintaining respect for people and their rights, and the members of the force are taught to respect those values."

The Border Police added in the statement that its officer for public complaints continues to deal with the matter of the videos, which it said have been on YouTube since 2008.

The full article appears in Friday's Haaretz Magazine.



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