A group of European peace activists bicycling near Jericho in the Palestinian West Bank were stopped by Israeli occupation forces, and Lt Col Shalom Eisner, deputy commander of the Jordan Valley territorial brigade, abruptly slammed his rifle into the face of Danish activist Andreas Ias. A video of the event has emerged which makes it clear that the cyclists were entirely peaceful and that Lt. Col. Eisner’s burst of rage was unprovoked. The Danish ambassador has asked Israeli authorities for an explanation, and President Shimon Peres has expressed dismay at this act, as has PM Binyamin Netanyahu. But Ias, the victim, says he is surprised by the shock the incident produced, since he says he saw Israeli soldiers behaving this way routinely with Palestinians in the area.
This video of the incident has surfaced:
The incident was unrelated to, but coincided with, Israel’s refusal to allow pro-Palestinian activists entrance into the country.
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I haven’t been able to discover what damage the Dane sustained. I assume his jaw isn’t broken.
The Dane was later interviewewd and gave his name as Andreas; he claimed his lip rquired suturing at a hospital.
the victim’s surprise is valid. However, what usually happens to such incidents occurring on Palestinians is that, similar unprovoked rages are often spinned in to being self-defensive response to an attacking Palastinian [remember the flotilla?], and of course, the world consumes what is served by PR-powered media.
Brutality is grotesque (in the so-called Light to the Nations, or anywhere else) but since it is vastly present in Israeli-controlled-territories to the point that its purveyors cannot judge the difference between more-visible foreigners and less-visible Palestinians (sometimes called “Natives” !), it is good that it happened to a Dane.
Now to get the Danes and Germans to get a tiny bit of reality to balances their FP based on guilt and pity.
The incident came after “peace activists” tried to block the road, and through their bicycles at the soldiers. From Israel’s ynet (website of mainstream daily Yediot newspaper):
link to ynetnews.com
So, Ben David, this means that every single peace activist until the return of the Messiah can justifiably be beaten like a dog? That is not how a civil state operates, that is how a military dictatorship operates. Which is what occupation means, for as long as it lasts.
israel doesn’t care anymore, having totally lost the pr war in the world. a sign of demise.
The IDF has a history of going ballistic against unarmed civilians. Remember when the aid ships were boarded by IDF resulting in the deaths of several people? The IDF had the balls to claim the aid workers were terrorist…and the US stood silent or actually supported Israel’s vicious acts of brutality. Look for the response from Israel to be that the Danes were carrying semi-automatic weapons.
The Dane is a member of the International Solidarity Movement, organized by Roseville, Michigan resident and U-M grad Huwaida Arraf. Rachel Corrie was an ISM volunteer when she was killed by an IDF bulldozer several years ago in Rafah.
The violence by the IDF is not surprising, but the fact it has received this much media coverage is.
The Telegraph has a further video including an interview with the Activist who was brutally struck with the rifle.
link to telegraph.co.uk