Hebron, WEST BANK (Agencies)
Jewish settlers tied a Palestinian to a pole in the occupied West Bank and beat him almost to death as Israeli soldiers stood by and did nothing, the man and an Israeli human rights group said on Monday.
The incident, which was videotaped by Israeli rights activists and later aired on the YouTube video-sharing website, took place last weekend near the Palestinian village of Al-Samoa in the occupied West Bank.
The film shows a man sitting on the ground with his hands tied to an electricity pole being beaten. A police spokesman said the incident took place in fields belonging to Al-Samoa where Jewish settlers had built an illegal outpost.
"On Saturday, I went to help relatives work in their fields. There was a fire and at that moment the settlers came and beat us up," said Midhat Abu Karch, 30, the man seen being beaten in the video.
"They tied me up to an electricity pole and continued hitting me," he said. "There were soldiers present when the incident happened. I asked them to help me but they said I should wait for police to come."
"Following Saturday's incident police arrested a person from the settlement of Assael and another individual from the same settlement was arrested and questioned over his involvement," police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said.
Hardline Israeli settlers regularly scuffle with Palestinians in the West Bank, especially in the arid hills south of the flashpoint town of Hebron.
Last month two Israeli settlers were arrested following a similar incident in the same area when Palestinians filmed a group of four masked men beating an elderly shepherd and his wife with clubs.
The footage was taken by a relative using one of 100 small video cameras which the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem handed out to Palestinians to record proof of attacks. |
