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Video: Israeli soldier throws 8-year old Palestinian girl’s bike into bushes

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Screen shot of video recorded by B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bri, showing an Israeli soldier throwing an 8-year old Palestinian girl’s bicycle into bushes. (Video: B’tselem)

An Israeli soldier is seen confiscating the bicycle of a crying eight-year old Palestinian girl, and then tossing it into nearby bushes, according to a video released by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem on Sunday.

In the bicycle-taking clip, the girl, Anwar Burqan is dressed in a pink shirt and wailing as a soldier approaches her and her bicycle. Burqan then runs off to her sister standing in close range, leaving the two-wheeler behind. After which, a second soldier grabs it and dumps it into bushes.

In an adjoining statement on the incident, which took place in Hebron in late July, B’Tselem said the girl related that she and other children in the area, “have no yard at home and that because of the crowded conditions she and her siblings play out in the street and ride their bicycles on the paved part of the divided street.”

The clip was filmed from behind a metal fence erected by the Israeli military in 2012. It cordons off Palestinian homes from a main street in the section of Hebron under full control of the Israeli military. Since the divider was built, B’Tselem said Israeli forces have consistently prevented Palestinians from accessing the boulevard it buffers.

“In March 2013 we first published footage showing the that the main part of the street was placed off-limits to Palestinians. Consequently, the prohibition was lifted for a time and Palestinians were allowed to use the road,” B’Tselem said, “However, the restriction was renewed in January 2015.”

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Anwar should consider herself lucky –
after all she wasn’t shot, or arrested by the merciful (and courageous) IDF soldiers,
who were protecting God’s chosen people from terrorists disguised as 8-year-old girls.

THE MOST CHICKENSHIT ARMY IN THE WORLD

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This is a real chickenshit report. When the big stories break that tell us what really matters like the one today about DFAT (Australia Dept of Foreign Affairs) suspending World Vision Palestine Aid after allegations that charity money has gone to Hamas we don’t hear a word.

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This was posted on Reddit the other day. Usually anything even mildly unfavorable to Israel initially receives lots of upvotes, and then shortly after is down-voted into oblivion through ‘brigading’ by Israel supporters. It’s like a clean up crew that comes in to make sure that nothing critical of Israel stays at the top for long. This time the story was so outrageous that that strategy failed, and the top comments critical of Israel had thousands of upvotes. The defensive posts were pathetic, focusing on 1: But he was punished, and 2: But, but nation X is so much worse.

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Pray tell why aren’t the Palestinians permitted to use the road now . Could it be because of terror threats and constant friction between settlers and Palestinians? Jews have a right to live in Hebron. According to Ben Gurion Hebron is even more significant in Jewish history than Jerusalem.

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Sigh.

QUESTION: Last week, an Israeli soldier in the occupied city of Hebron roughed up a little Palestinian girl on a bicycle, and then he took her bike and destroyed it. My question to you is very simple: Should Israel compensate this little girl for the bicycle? Very simple.

MR TONER: So I don’t know that that’s a question we necessarily should answer from the podium of the State Department, but what I’ll say is we understand the tensions that exist in Israel regarding security and security concerns, but – and I’ve seen the video; I know what you’re talking about – it’s also legitimate to say that what’s portrayed in that video is concerning and raises emotions on the part of many people who see it, and that any security forces – and I’m talking about not just Israel’s, but any security forces around the world – have a difficult job. We understand that they have to balance a lot of factors in carrying out their duties, but they also need to be aware of how their actions portray what they’re doing and the reasons behind what they’re doing to the rest of the world. So that’s a question for the Israeli authorities to speak to. I’m just offering my opinion.

QUESTION: But you subsidize Israel to the tune of billions of dollars.

MR TONER: We do.

QUESTION: Should you deduct like $100 to pay for that bicycle? It’s a serious question.

MR TONER: No, I —

QUESTION: Should you deduct $100 from the $40 billion or so that you’re about to give Israel for the next 10 years, and say this is to replace the bicycle?

MR TONER: Said – so I spoke about this a little bit yesterday. Our security relationship with Israel is important both to Israel’s national security interests as well as our own, as well as the region’s, and it’s vital that we maintain that close cooperation. And, frankly, that relationship, as I said yesterday, is ironclad. Israel is a strong democracy in the region and a strong proponent of democratic values in the region. We’re looking at this incident. I agree that, again, for those who watched the video, I can see where it raises emotions and raises concerns. And what we’ve always said – and that bears – that is true for Israel’s security forces or Israelis, as well as for Palestinians – is that all sides need to bear in mind and take – or make efforts not to escalate tensions and be aware that their actions could escalate tensions in what is already an overly tense situation. And I think that’s our message.

QUESTION: So you don’t – you will not urge Israel to compensate this little girl —

MR TONER: I’m not aware of any efforts on that part.

QUESTION: — to the tune of $100 for – to pay for the bicycle?

MR TONER: I’m not aware that we – and I’m not even sure we could do that.

Please.

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