Israel holds US boy without charge after police nearly beat him to death

Fifteen-year-old Tariq Abukhdeir after Israeli police beat him.

Addameer

Update, 5 July: US says little recourse

Fifteen-year-old Palestinian-American Tariq Abukhdeir, cousin of recent lynching victim Muhammed Abu Khudair, was brutally beaten by masked Israeli police on Thursday evening in the Shuafat neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. He has since been arrested and held without charge and denied medical treatment, according to his family and human rights organizations.

The United States Consulate in Jerusalem has informed Tariq Abukhdeir’s family that they have little recourse beyond following Israeli legal procedures, Suhad Abukhdeir told The Electronic Intifada over the phone from Tampa, Florida.

Suhad is Tariq’s aunt and has been receiving updates from Tariq’s parents every few hours.

The electricity in Shuafat is cutting in and out so The Electronic Intifada was not able to speak with Tariq’s parents directly.

Suhad said that Tariq’s father, Salahedeen, spoke to a consular official on Saturday over the phone instead of in person because it is too dangerous to go outside in Shuafat due to a heavy and violent Israeli police and settler presence in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood.

“When I talked directly to [Tariq’s] mother she said the consulate told them we have to follow the legal procedures here [in Israel]. But there are no legal procedures for Palestinians. Palestinians aren’t considered human,” Suhad said.

The United States Consulate in Jerusalem has yet to respond to a request for comment. Meanwhile the US State Department confirmed to The Electronic Intifada that Tariq is indeed an American citizen and that he was visited by a US consular official on Saturday.

Original post

Fifteen-year-old Palestinian-American Tariq Abukhdeir, cousin of recent lynching victim Muhammed Abu Khudair, was brutally beaten by masked Israeli police on Thursday evening in the Shuafat neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. He has since been arrested and held without charge and denied medical treatment, according to his family and the rights group Addameer.

Tariq’s family lives in Tampa, Florida and have been on vacation in Palestine since early June. They are scheduled to return to the United States on 16 July. Tariq’s next court hearing is scheduled for Sunday, 6 July.

As photos of Tariq’s horrific facial bruises surfaced, so did two videos that show masked Israeli officers punching, kicking and dragging a handcuffed Palestinian in Shuafat:

Salahedeen Khdeir, Tariq’s father, told The Electronic Intifada by phone from Shuafat that the Palestinian in the video is his son Tariq and that the footage was recorded by neighbors who then released it to a Palestinian media outlet.

Salahedeen says Tariq was visiting his uncle’s house in an area devoid of clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians when he and five other youths were attacked in the yard by two masked Israeli police agents.

Tariq was roughed up the worst, beaten so badly that he lost consciousness. But that didn’t stop the Israeli forces from arresting Tariq and the others without charge and preventing Tariq from receiving medical treatment for five hours.

“Tariq was arrested at 7:35pm but wasn’t transferred to the hospital until around 1:30am,” said Salahedeen. During those five hours his parents were prevented from seeing him as well.

At the police station, Salahedeen came face to face with his son’s attackers, who called Tariq “a tough boy” and claimed he tried to attack them.

Kangaroo court

Tariq’s parents did not see him again until Friday in an Israeli court where the judge extended his imprisonment another 48 hours as requested by the Israeli police, who argued they still needed to question him.

The officers told the judge that Tariq and his cousins were throwing stones, an accusation Tariq and his family vehemently deny. When asked if they had any witnesses to the alleged stone-throwing, the officers said no, Salahedeen recounted.

When Salahedeen showed the video of Tariq’s beating to the judge, he said, she was appalled and asked the officers why they beat a boy who was handcuffed. She also asked why Palestinian youths arrested for throwing stones appear in court with bruises while Israeli Jewish youths arrested for throwing stones appear unharmed.

The officers responded, “When we tell the Jewish kids to stop throwing stones, they stop and let us lock them up. But the Palestinians kids want to fight,” recounted Salahedeen.

“Tariq is scared,” said his father, adding that his son speaks very little Arabic and no Hebrew, making an already nightmarish ordeal even more terrifying for the 15-year-old.

Salahedeen begged the judge to let him stay with Tariq in jail so he so he could check his son’s urine for blood each time he uses the bathroom, as advised by the doctor who treated the boy. This has led his family to fear that he may have internal bleeding. The judge denied Salahedeen’s request, promising that she would personally notify the jail to look after Tariq.

“No protection for Palestinians”

When asked if he expects any accountability or justice for the treatment of his son, Salahedeen said, “No way, this is Israel. There is no protection for Palestinians from the police or soldiers or army.”

Referring to 16-year-old lynching victim Muhammad Abu Khudair, Salahedeen added, “My cousin was kidnapped from outside and got killed after 45 minutes and we gave the police pictures of the kidnappers, the car tags, exactly when and where he was taken and still the police say maybe this is a family problem.”

“He’s a good boy, he’s good in school, he loves soccer, loves music,” Salahedeen said of his son. “This is the first time he went to sleep far away from his home. And where does he end up? In a jail next to the people who hit him almost to death.”

Asked whether the State Department is aware that an American child is being held without charge by Israel, a State Department official responded, “We are aware of these reports but have no comment due to privacy considerations.”

Salahedeen says he has an appointment on Saturday with the US consulate, which had not yet responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

The Palestinian prisoner rights organization Addameer reports that Tariq is one of eleven Palestinians who were beaten and arrested in Shuafat on Thursday, many of whom were minors.

“The continued state-sanctioned violence against children is unlawful and unacceptable,” Addameer stated in an appeal for protests against Tariq’s treatment.

“Addameer urges immediate action and calls on the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United States consulate and all regional embassies and consulates, human rights organizations and journalists to attend Tarek Abu Khdeir’s hearing on Sunday 6 July to investigate the intensified aggression against Palestinian children,” the group added.

US family pray

Back in Tampa, Tariq’s family is praying for him.

“My whole family is in shock,” 22-year-old Ala Kader, Tariq’s cousin, told The Electronic Intifada over the phone from Tampa. Ala grew up with Tariq, who she says is like a little brother to her.

As a Palestinian, Ala is used to seeing horrifying images out of the region whenever the conflict heats up.

“But to see it happen to your own family members in your hometown from thousands of miles away is devastating,” she said.

“It makes your heart go crazy.”

Photo of Tariq provided by the Abukhdeir family

Photo of Tariq provided by the Abukhdeir family

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Comments

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And what about the 3 kids who were kidnapped and brutally murdered by Hamas -- one of whom was also an American? The difference between that and cases where Arabs in Israel are mistreated (yes, it can happen -- just as people of certain ethnic groups in the US or any other country can also be mistreated by others or even by police) is that it's a safe bet that IF the youth here was REALLY mistreated by police, there will be a HUGE public outcry in Israel against this, and a public inquiry, and the police will get what's coming to them (as has been the case in the past). By contrast, when Jews are killed by Arabs, the killers get cheered and people dance and hand out candies on the street. Or have you not seen the videos of the people's elation in the Palestinian streets when they learned that the 3 kids had been murdered? Yeah, I didn't think so. I guess "a site like this" forgot to show you that.

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Netaniahu? Sure, he knows.
Then, if one of Zionist settlers on Palestinian land was American, what was he doing robbing Palestinians of their land? Zionist settlers do not belong to Palestine, they should stay in USA and do not rob others' land.
Zionism is the prime crime that brought colonizers from all the world to rob Palestinian land and ethnic cleanse Palestinians. Stop the crime, end Zionism and Americans would be free to visit Palestine as guest, not as colonizers.
Palestinians are the people of the land, and Zionists are just criminals against them, no matter what Zionist and what Palestinian.

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That's the difference.

BRYCE, DID YOU READ ABOUT the 2 Palestinian kids that were murdered in cold blood about 5 weeks ago? Do you even know of it?

They were assassinated by an Israeli squad, all filmed by CNN. They were only walking, not threatening anyone. The 3 Israelis that were killed were probably a vigilante response, NOT by your boogeyman Hamas.

But a response that Israel wanted so they could blame the boogeyman.

You see, Bryce, Palestine was set to seek U.N. help and protection against Israel's occupation and Apartheid. So Israel first stalled with "peace talks", promising to release prisoners in return. Then Israel enraged the West Bank with the assassinations I mentioned, leading to this current tit-for-tat which could destroy a West Bank and Gaza unity government.

Why? All so Israel can continue to confiscate land without consequence.

Bryce, you say this site is not impartial?

I say our entire mass media is not impartial, and regurgitates Israel's talking points. EI is a small balance. If even 1/2 of U.S. mainstream media was really balanced there would be a uprising against Israel like you couldn't imagine.

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You obviously have no idea of the severity of this. Huge public outcry? No. Simply because the person on the other end of the Policeman's fists was a Palestinian. Simple as that. Israel's fuelled and never ending hatred towards Palestinians is as deep as your ignorance in this topic. The fact of the matter is, if you're an Israeli and killed, you'll be known because the "media" will identify you and if you're not an Israeli, you simply die off as an ant that's being squashed. Unnoticed.. Get your head out of your arse, learn the real stories and man up. Bear with the fact that your ego will be crushed due to the misleading you went through.

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The article does not dehumanize Israelis. The Israeli police officers who carried out this action dehumanized themselves.

No Palestinian, outside the small renegade group who kidnapped and murdered the three Israeli teenagers, believe that such actions are acceptable or commendable.

On the other hand, many Israelis, including the Prime Minister, have called for vengeance and retaliation, rather than justice. As a result, six Palestinians were killed by the IDF in the hunt for the missing teenagers and their abductors, and this was followed by the burning alive of Muhammed Abu Khudair, cousin of Tariq.

The indiscriminate launching of rockets from Gaza into Israel is a terrorist act that has been criticised by Electronic Intifada.

The beating to unconsciousness of a 15 year-old lying handcuffed on the ground, and the denial for five hours of medical treatment and parental access, are serious human-rights violations, and are not a laughing matter.

Please read the comments policy of Electronic Intifada. A range of views is welcome. The grounds on which comments may be moderated is clearly explained.

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Well for a start the bulk of the killing of civilians has been done by Israelis. There have been over 80 attacks on Palestinians by illegal settlers this year alone. The other day a settler ran over a young Palestinian girl deliberately, causing serious injuries. Over 1500 children have killed by IDF since 2000, dozens of times more than the other way round. Hundreds suffer mistreatment in jails. Plus its Israel continuing to violate international law and the UN and the US by building illegal settlements on Arab land. Thats why Israel is one of the worlds most unpopular countries including in countries like the UK, not just in Muslim countries - due to Israels appalling actions, and why a number of EU countries including France, Germany and the UK have now started advising companies and its populance to avoid buying goods from the illegal Jewish settlements in Palestine.

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State sanctioned police brutality happens in Israel and the US, Palestinians just fight back more than people of all colors in the US. Nobody entertains illusions of still being "ok" - Israeli and Palestinians are flush with activists across the spectrum. On the contrary, the US has a dangerously high percentage of simply indifferent fools unfazed by the plight of their fellow Americans.

It's unbearable when they go off on any body else's police brutality.

And this story is horrible - I don't care how many Arabs sit on Israel's Supreme Court! Sounds like he may be a "Judge Thomas" - doubt he is a "Thurgood Marshall!"

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Get back on topic. This is an American child that we see getting beaten while handcuffed after supposedly throwing stones. This kid is 100 pounds soaking wet and could not have possibly threatened these grown men. This is the way you treat all Palestinians, including children and it turns out this one was an American and now the spin comes. Explain what happened here and quit trying to spin it
. Nobody is buying your B.S. troll.

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Israel has one of the biggest kangaroo courts in the world. How you can be an apologist for such racist behavior has to make one wonder how you can live with yourself. And so far there is no evidence that Palestinians kidnapped those 3 boys. There is proof that Israel knew when the boys were dead meaning they also knew where they were. Give the lack of evidence it is highly suggestive that Israel sacraficed the boys as a false flag operation to interrupt Palestinian unity efforts and regain world sympathy which they deservedly lost.

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What does the Jewish faith teach? What does Islam teach? The ultimate aim is humanity. The preachers of most religions today are lost and confined to protecting their own specific groups. We should take a minute out of our time and reflect upon our actions which are murdering humanity. For example: The death of a Muslim/Jew is not the death of a muslim/jew its the death of a mother's son some body's daughter, father, mother, wife husband. etc. Instead of muslims rejoicing the death of a Jew or Jews rejoicing the death of a muslim if both were to think that a human being who once lived has been deprived of his life. The amount of hearts he has left behind which are bleeding in pain, those hearts will come to terms with the death of that specific loved one but will always have a deep sigh of that painful breath. That deep sigh will remain with them till death, That deep sigh is a silent curse of a human being.How do we go to mosques and how do we go to synagogues and pray with poisons in our hearts.If we were to approach 2 mothers who have lost a child. A Jewish mother and a Muslim mother. I can assure you the pain is the same, the never filling hollowness is identical too, the tears are the same colour. The pain of sitting besides her sons grave who she was banking on becoming the source of help in her old age is exactly the same too.Moses and Mohammed both were examples of humanity,love and consideration. A human being who is hurt and is in pain is a HUMAN BEING HURT AND IN PAIN not a Jewish boy or a Muslim boy. The ultimate goal of religion is humanity, once we understand this concept then the death of a human being will be felt by all groups and beliefs. Next time going to the Mosque or Synagogue lets find the ultimate goal of humanity rather than being a good Muslim or a good Jew lets be good human beings as humanity is universal. Peace and love to the deprived JEWISH AND MUSLIM relatives who have lost loved ones - we are all one we are all HUMAN BEINGS

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The actions of Israelis speak for themselves. This story is reporting on their actions. Its the truth that you would rather keep hidden from the world.So many only see issues from only one side and cant accept when facts come out that hurt their very beliefs. Instead of questioning their beliefs, they point fingers at those who do believe while they call them infidels.
The U.S. doesnt want to hurt their relationship with Israel, so Im sure this is all going to be kept as quiet as possible. It makes me.sick that we send billions of dollars to this country for weapons when they have shown repeately that they arent mature enough to use it responsibility.

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Wtheck are you serious those jewish terrorist beat the heck out of a littleg boy and your gonna sit here and defend those fin jews? he's an american citizen and just because he's muslim doesn't make him a "palestinian terrorist" you need to go educate your self they are the terrorists but no when you hear a muslim doing aomething wrong then he's ag terrorist but when u hear a jew or a christian doin something wrong then hes not a terrorist ?

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Dehumanize Israelis? Your cops nearly beat this kid to death, murdered and burned another one, spent an extra ten days (after the Israeli kids were found) beating and killing Palestinians. You're a liar or delusional or a paid poster

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Those were soldiers of an occupying army sent to squash all dissent.

Those were brutal sadistic fanatics beating a child.

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Criticizing the Palestinians for their lack of civilian infrastructure is exactly the same thing as the white US Southerners criticizing Blacks for not having developed a robust economy complete with black CEOs, judges, and lawyers -- which they frequently do as "evidence" of black incompetence hence a justification for continued white dominance. Like you display here , there seems to be a psychological defence mechanism that compartmentalizes and hides away information that complicates their narrative first justifying slavery (a form of "Naqba"), then the Jim Crow laws that have been used the same way the Israeli legal system is used against Palestinians.....to keep them both from ever enjoying their constitutional rights, from owning businesses capable of competing against their own, and especially from ever obtaining a fair hearing in a legal system weighted heavily in the dominant races favor. Like you, the simple fact that they got a hearing is used as "proof" of both Israeli and plantation owner's righteousness. Like the New York Times (under the pro-Zionist Sulzberger family) the Israeli media (eg. Jerusalem Post), their medias are predisposed to believe whichever side makes the case that those dominating the others aren't part of the evil society that continues to lies to itself so they never have to admit to, or atone for, the gigantic crime that both the early Zionists and slave-owners conducted, and whose children now enjoy.

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I came across this article from a posting by a Jewish friend. I am neither Jewish or Muslim. The story is about police violence perpetrated against a minor. It's about a culture of impunity that has grown as apartheid has been enabled. There is no need to catalogue other crimes in the story regardless of who they are committed by. The suggestion that crimes against Israelis should be referred to here suggests that those crimes justify the beating of a boy by police. Nothing justifies police violence against children.

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I think most rational people would condemn both the Israeli and Palestinian teenager murders - including the two Palestinian teenagers gunned-down in broad daylight in May - as a savage, inhumane and completely unnecessary waste of life that achieves nothing other than serving to escalate an already volatile situation.

However, what is unreasonable is to suggest that the media coverage is somehow geared unfavourably towards the Israelis' when the historical record confirms that it is the Israeli's who have committed more acts of aggression and murder than the Palestinians'. Further, we should also remember that the Palestinians don't have anything close to the media influence that the Israelis' enjoy through the various, powerful and extremely well funder lobby groups, which promote and extend Israeli propaganda and influence.

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Actually, Israel is continuously kidnapping and murdering Palestinians. They take children from their beds in the dead of night and take them to be interrogated with no parents, no lawyer, no video or audio checks on their behaviour. Wow! A token Arab in the judiciary. Sorry, but that doesn't make up for the fact that, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories at least, children become adults at 18 when they're Jews, but at 16 if they're non-Jews. And did you know that Israel is the ONLY country in the world that tries children by military court? Democracy? I think not.

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Bryce I hope you are not condoning what has happened to a child? Even if he was chucking stones or kicking off with the police, his treatment is over the top! To keep him locked up is ridiculous. If the police had arrested him and took him to the precinct, and give him a warning there would be no negative story. The Israeli forces show disregard for child welfare and that is at odds with the rest of the human race.

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Americans expect now to see our government file a formal protest against Israel for this brutality and false arrest of a US citizen. We want to see the American consulate come to the defense of this boy. It is American taxpayers' money that supports Israel's brutality against the Palestinians and it is America's unbridled support of the apartheid state of Israel that has us living with terrorism threats. This has to stop. Is there a petition available to sign to demand action against the government of Israel for this inexcusable and vicious attack on an American child? Are we never going to hold Israel accountable for their crimes?

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How do you know the arrest was false? It is very possible that this kid was throwing those stones, and if he was, it is not a diplomatic matter, it is a criminal one--which means it is to be handled domestically, in the country where it took place. Call me callous for saying so, but such an isolated incident is not nearly enough cause for what you suggest. Go sign all the petitions you want, it will not change that fact, which is why we are not at war with Israel. If American families want to avoid the brutal facts of life of the Middle East, then heed the US's warnings and stop traveling there. These areas are war-torn and extremely ethnically charged, especially after the kidnapping and murder of those three Israeli boys. Why anybody from America would send their children there right now is beyond me. But if you do, and your boy throws stones because somebody talked him into it, and this happens, you know... blame can only go so far. And not no, but hell no, do I think we should get into rough negotiations with a steady and stalwart ally over this. Terrorism threats be damned--quit making decisions out of fear, you coward!

PS - stop claiming you speak for America. YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR US! Clearly, you do not. America will not declare sanctions on Israel over this, nor should they.

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Zionist colonizers of Palestine are criminals, not Palestinians under Zionist colonization. Palestinians have all rights to resist colonization, so no matter whether Tariq Abukhdeir did anything against colonizers or not - he has all rights to be in Palestine, while colonizers do not have right to be in Palestine as "master race", so they have no rights to "arrest" him. No more than Nazis had "right" to oppress people all over Europe, which they tried to colonize too.

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1/ Boycott all israel's products
2/ all possible actions : information in your country
send to palestinain population help they need

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israeli army or police officers do not go with head bands or with masks.
this is obviously another try to make bad name for israel.
check the facts before believe in story like this.

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So the "fake soldiers" beat him, then handed him over to the Israel authorities?

Can you offer another explanation why he's in Israeli custody?

Laughable

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First, there is ZERO conclusive evidence that the person in the video is Tariq. Zero.
Second, the person has his head covered with a shirt or keffiyeh which means he was throwing stones, possibly an incendiary device (ex. molotov cocktails) and further; those are the people, usually young kids like Tariq, who are cover for snipers or armed combatants. It's the same old story and then when they get caught by the security forces -- whether PA security or Israeli, the kids piss themselves and then you fools cry "foul".

You play with fire, you will get burned. The culture in the Middle East is force to be met with force -- that's the way the Arab ppl have been since Mohammed decided force was the way to conquer and rule; not peaceful coexistence.
Everyone in the region knows it - it's just the "West" that continues to find shock at how the cycle of violence never ends.

Out here, you throw a rock, you get punched. You launch a rocket, you get tactically bombed. If the Palestinians had TRUE leadership without teaching kids from kindergarten to engage in violence, there would a thriving Palestinian people, economy and livelihood. But the PA, Hamas for that matter, are too scared of their own ppl killing them so they fall prey to violence and creating a cycle of violence to protect themselves and their own interests = keeping as much money as they can from the bigger troublemakers: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE so their own human rights issues aren't exposed to the world.

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You can't have it both ways though. Here you are claiming your own use of brute force is simply the way things are done over there while simultaneously claiming to be more civilized than the Arab Palestinians (whose villages were razed by Jewish terrorists like the Irgun) you somehow fault for being angry about it. You can't appeal to the West as being a civilizing force in an uncivilized area then proceed to behave in precisely the same manner. You especially can't then feel persecuted when Westerners criticize you for behaving like the brutal beasts you say are merely reaping what they have sown! That isn't anti-Semitism on the part of those now criticizing you. It's simply calling Israel's barbaric behavior "barbaric"! The fact that you appear unable to comprehend what is blatantly obvious to everyone but Zionists simply affirms Zionism to be another form of morally bereft nationalism like those that wracked Europe twice last century. Which brings us to the crux of the Palestinian/Israeli "problem".

When the Zionist Project was dreamt up in the 1890s, white occupation of non-Christian countries was perfectly acceptable. And of course Britain, which gave Zionists permission to colonize Palestine, was one of the leading benefactors of that policy.
But ironically, it was the crimes of the Nazis which made the world turn it's back on the very sort of behavior the Zionist Project was deeply dependent on for achieving its goals. Hence their "need" to portray the founding of Israel and the conflict that provoked in a manner far different than the truth of the situation. And you may have been able to get away with, indeed you were well on the way toward bamboozling the world about "Arab aggression". But the internet suddenly made access to scholarly sources of information that contradict that narrative available.

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The time has come for the US to stop funding the real terrorists in the Middle East. Israel has murdered Americans, stolen from us, lied to us, spied on us, cheated us and now are beating and torturing American children. It's time to show these arrogant people we will not allow it. Stop funding the Israeli terrorists.

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*to the previous commenter* I don't think your blindness could be any clearer. You also show a lack of nuance, putting all Israelis together in one batch and all Arabs together in another. You clearly either have limited/no experience in the region or a very narrow, biased experience. I worked there for 18 months and I can testify that there is a culture of arrogance and impunity in the Jerusalem police department that may very well be particular to that PD (I can't speak to Tel Aviv or Haifa) -- and that I was subjected to as a 'foreigner'. Of course, by virtue of my white privilege, I didn't get the stuffing beat out of me -- I just got stopped, frisked, and accused of doing things I hadn't done without any probable cause; power-trips. Beatings are reserved for "Arab" kids who are actually Floridian and don't really speak either language. The cover-up? Now that stinks of Likud administration and other elements of the ring-wing. Do you know what I'm talking about?

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Likud is just one example, but so-called "left" Zionists are just left colonizers. They all believe that Palestinians should give up their land to colonizers, only "left" Zionist want Palestinians to do it by their free will.
End of Zionism and colonization of Palestine !

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There is no excuse for beating someone in cuffs. Those two soldiers should be imprisoned for years.

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One day, in few years, the Arabs will run out of oil, once this happens, the US will have no interest and usage for the Israeli any more, and by nature and geography, they will be thrown out of this land either they like it or not. Even if by then, they have taken all the land. They will be thrown out, It's nature, except that by then nature is gonna strike with angry people who have been paying the nazi bill for a hundred year, and it's gonna be an ugly revenge.

Till then, enjoy ur upper hand, it's half way through.

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I just saw this image on the news & I can't understand why grown-up people can do something like this to a child! In god's sake it's a child!
If a grown up does something like this they ain't better then a"bad" person! And these guys a policemen???
What's wrong with this world?

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Doesn't matter what ethnic and religious group you are from, these actions are inhumane and is not justified in anyway.

Action needs to be taken, this is all unnecessary. Especially in our modern World.

Kill a man/woman and you kill the whole of humanity, save a man/woman and you save the whole of humanity. Simple words that we can all live by.

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The last place in the world or solar system I would ever visit.... Israel... Thank god we have a normal police department here in Canada.

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It doesn't matter whose side any-one is on, who is more horrible than the other or even who is in the right - there is no excuse for beating up (and more) children and innocent people.

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This is the e-mail address to Mayors Bob Buckhorns office of Tampa, Florida.
Yes, it may be a shot in the dark but I think this by deserves at least that much. Please e-mail the link to this article to him and make him aware that one of his citizens, a child, needs his help.

http://www.tampagov.net/dept_m...

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As an American this makes me sick! How can you do this to a child for throwing stones? These thugs are despicable brutal animals and need to be held accountable. IDF true brutal nature is there for the world to see. Then we can see what the Palestinians have to deal with day in and day out. Is there a fund set up to help this child and his family?

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I am an American. This brutalized child is an American. My hard earned tax dollars paid Israel to brutalize this American teenager. All Americans should be outraged and insulted. Please contact your Senators and members of Congress and the President and lodge a complaint that as a taxpayer you are required to pay for the brutalization of another American by the Israelis. This has to stop.

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I haven't written anything contrary to the site's comment policy. Why have many of the responses I wrote been censored, while many inflammatory and virulently anti-Israel posts are published? I guess I was right about the censorship issue (at least partially).

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If you came here to NZ and did that you would be thrown in jail and locked up for years. I read (palestinians are not considered human) wow it's like the NAZI's all over again, I hope i never hear or see that come out of a jewish mouth (especially considering what the nazis did to them, and considered them not human). Its sad to say but war between cultures are always going to be around - well at least until we all make a stand. Here's my stand:

Both Palestinians and Jewish groups have done wrong, Ask for God's forgiveness , and try to live by gods word/way, we are all equal in Gods eyes - who are you to avenge against each other - your only but a (man) not GOD!!!! You DO NOT punish.

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I .. I know Tariq ..I knew him for a year and he's an amazing person ..really he is and that was 4 years ago .. I am hurt and broken and shocked and disgusted to see all of this ..its crazy its unacceptable , non excusable , those people who did that to him are heartless assholes and high on something. I hope he comes home asap. hang in there Tariq , you're in my prayers ,you'll get out of there soon

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Rania Khalek

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Rania Khalek is an independent journalist reporting on the underclass and marginalized.