In video: Israeli soldiers set dogs on Palestinian boy

A leaked, classified Israeli video shows soldiers using dogs to attack a Palestinian teenager is revealing of the sadistic realities of Israeli occupation, and of the racism at the heart of the Zionist project.

Narrated

3 min read

Riya al-Sanah

03 Mar, 2015

Warning: The video contains graphic and disturbing images

A leaked video showing a Palestinian teenager, being attacked by two canines, while being held by two Israeli soldiers, sparked outrage serving as a testimony of the brutality of the Israeli occupation.

The video documents the violent arrest of Hamzeh Abu Hashem, 16, during confrontations near Beit Ummar and the nearby settlement of Karmei Zur, 10 kilometres north of Hebron, for allegedly throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.

The incident took on 23 December 2014, but only surfaced when it was posted by right-wing and former Knesset member Michael Ben Ari, who tweeted it saying "The soldiers taught the little terrorist a lesson!".

Ari's followers ware also urged to disseminate the video so that "every little terrorist who plans to harm our soldiers learns the price."

According to al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights organisation, the Israeli army uses dogs "as a further method in the violent suppression of peaceful protests and house raids, resulting in injuries to Palestinians."

The video was shortly deleted by the right-wing settler, however, by then it spread through social media and local Israeli media outlets.

In the background, an unidentified man can be heard laughing and saying to the boy, "Who's a chicken, eh? Who's a chicken? Great. Very good." Another man is heard telling a dog to "get him."

Residents of Beit Ummar have regular demonstrations condemning the confiscation of their land by the Israeli occupation.

Israel has confiscated around 4,000 dunums of Biet Ummar's land for settlement expansion, and for the bypass roads leading to them.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank have been deemed illegal under international law.

Land expropriated by Israel can be freely accessed by Israeli settlers, but not by its rightful owners – the Palestinians.

Abu Hashem's family told Haaretz that after their teenage son was treated in hospital for dog bits he was sentenced to six months in Israeli jail and was ordered to pay a fine of 4,000 shekels ($1000).

This is not the first incident where Israeli soldiers from the Okets Unit, a canine special forces unit of the Israeli army, are seen use their dogs to attack Palestinian protesters.

Al-Haq has documented numerous cases where Palestinian were attacked by dogs during house raids or demonstrations.

In March 2012 a video documented an incident where Ahmad Shaker Mahmoud Shteiwi, 24, endured an 8 minute attack by a dog from the same Oketz Unity, during the weekly protest at Kufr Qaddoum, West Bank.

After the incident the army said it would stop using dogs to disperse demonstrations in the West Bank. Hashem's attack, by soldiers and dogs from the same army unit, show that the use of dogs to disperse and attack Palestinian protesters is still in place.

An investigation was launched at the time, but no one was charged.

The Israeli army spokesman's office said that it will open an investigation into Hashem's attack.

B'tselem, The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, called, once again, on the Israeli army to stop using dogs to arrest civilians. The rights group said that "Urging dogs to attack humans is an immoral and illegal act that arouses horror."