Israel Arrests 2 Border Police Videotaped Beating Palestinians

Two Israeli border police were arrested Tuesday after Israeli television aired an amateur videotape showing them beating and kicking six Palestinian workers.

The Oct. 10 incident--captured in graphic footage that showed one officer kicking a worker in the head and his colleague sitting and bouncing on the bent head of a second detainee sitting cross-legged on the ground--created an uproar Tuesday after its broadcast on Israel’s Channel 1.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the officers’ behavior, saying: “I am not prepared to accept it. I will not tolerate it, and people who behave like that are not fit to be in our security forces.”

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat, saying the incident was “shameful,” called on Israel to investigate it and mete out appropriate punishment.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry announced Tuesday that it was investigating another incident in which three border police beat eight Palestinians who were stopped last weekend trying to cross into Israel near the West Bank town of Kalqilya. Several of the men were hospitalized, a ministry official said.

The police on the videotape--identified as David Ben Abu, 20, and Tzahi Shmaya, 19--were to be charged with aggravated assault and abuse of authority, Israel Radio reported.

They apparently were unaware that their actions near Ar Ram checkpoint north of Jerusalem were being recorded by a Palestinian civilian. A passerby who stopped to ask questions during the beatings was struck in the face, the tape shows.

The six unidentified Palestinians apparently were caught trying to cross into Israel without required work permits. In recent months, Israel’s frequent closures of the border have created economic hardship in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with many Palestinians trying to circumvent checkpoints to reach jobs.

Shmaya’s father, Uzi, was quoted Tuesday as saying his son is a “good boy” who told him the incident grew out of the anger and violence that erupted in September between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank. “The hatred just went to everyone’s head,” he told Israel Radio.

Israeli officials, including Finance Minister Dan Meridor and Internal Security head Avigdor Kahalani, expressed shock and revulsion, taking pains to describe the abuse as atypical of the behavior of Israeli security forces toward Palestinians.

But human rights activists and Palestinian officials said it was far from uncommon.

“From the research we’ve done on beatings and degradation of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and police, the only unique thing about this case is that a photographer was present,” said Eitan Felner, deputy director of B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization.

Felner said he did not believe the incidents reflected official policy. But he said security forces commanders have done little to discourage violence against Palestinians. Along with the videotaped beating, he pointed to the symbolic sentence of one hour in jail, suspended, and one Israeli agora--one-third of a U.S. penny--handed down Sunday against four soldiers who fatally shot a Palestinian in 1993 at a West Bank roadblock.

The chief military prosecutor has said he will appeal for a tougher sentence in the case.

“These incidents reflect what has become the dehumanization of Palestinians in Israeli society and the double standards of treatment created after 30 years of occupation,” Felner said.