West Bank – The Border Policeman who confiscated a bicycle from an eight-year old Palestinian girl in Hebron was suspended from active duty on Tuesday, after a video of the incident went viral on YouTube.
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The event itself took place over a week ago, on July 25, and was captured on video by a volunteer from the Israeli non-governmental group B’Tselem, who filmed it from the window of a nearby building.
B’Tselem, however, posted the one minute and 12 second clip only on Monday. It showed the border police officer running after the girl, Anwar Burkan, on a street near the Cave of the Patriarchs.
It is considered to be a highly sensitive area of the mostly Palestinian city and is heavily guarded by security forces.
The pedestrian area in front of the Cave of the Patriarchs is blocked off to Palestinians, who are directed to use an alternative path behind a concrete barrier and a small wire fence. Still some Palestinian traffic is allowed and small children can often be seen playing near there.
In the video Anwar screamed as the policeman approached and clutched her bicycle. He put his foot on the bicycle to keep her from taking it. After a few seconds she ran off crying and screaming in the direction of her brother, who held a large plastic toy in his hands. The policeman walked toward them, causing the two children to run away all together in fright.
There is a break in the video and then the policeman is shown throwing the bicycle in the bushes.
The Border Police said it regretted the incident, which it took very seriously. The police have opened an investigation into the incident, a spokesman added.
Incidents like this create future stabbers.
B’Tselem is known to provoke and create conflagrations with israeli police and/or IDF off camera, and then video tape the response, to use as propaganda on the world stage, and to send to international news outlets. Knowing that, and the break in the video, anything could have happened in between, and the video cannot be taken at face value.
Any area such as Hebron, which is wrought with flare ups and considered hotbeds for violence, must be closed military zoze, off limits to the press, journalists, media, and photographers, including betzelem. These are no longer safe areas for the press and the like, and just causes israel to waste time, and money over having to explain why they had to confiscate bikes, and toys. Even from children lest they may be loaded with a type of bomb and sent by their parents, to strike the soldiers, not caring about their children getting blown up in the process, as they do and encourage their older children to become terrorists!