WATCH: Palestinians struggle with IDF soldier, preventing boy's arrest
Boy suspected of stone-throwing in West Bank disturbance.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFUpdated: AUGUST 30, 2015 10:25Palestinians scuffle with an Israeli soldier as they try to prevent him from detaining a boy during a protest.
A video that has gone viral on YouTube shows Palestinian women and children preventing an IDF soldier from arresting an 11-year old with a broken arm during a West Bank demonstration on Friday on the outskirts of the Nabi Saleh village.The opening shots show a partially-masked soldier with a rifle in his hand running after the boy, Muhammad Tamimi, across an empty brown hillside filled with rocks and a few scattered olive trees.The soldier catches Muhammad from behind and places him in a choke-hold. Muhammad screams and begins crying. The soldier pushes Muhammad onto a rock and lies on top of him, as a young female activist with a gas mask in one hand tries to pull the boy away.The soldier pushes her back and tells her to leave the boy alone. Muhammad’s left arm can be seen in a cast.The soldier calls out for reinforcements as he holds one arm around the boy’s neck and keeps his other hand on his gun. Within a minute, Muhammad’s sister, Ahed, 14, and mother arrive, along with other women and children.Screaming, they hit the soldier, unmask him, and try to pull the boy away. They succeed just as a second soldier arrives. One of them throws a stun grenade at the Palestinians. Both soldiers, however, walk away without arresting Muhammad.The IDF said the incident occurred during violent clashes between its soldiers and Palestinians in which rocks were thrown at security forces. It said that an attempt was made to arrest Muhammad after he was identified as one of the stone throwers.The IDF said that during the execution of the arrest, a number of Palestinians, including women and children, acted in a violent and provocative manner. It said that a commander decided not to carry out the arrest as a result of this.The soldier was lightly injured. Two Palestinians were arrested for stone throwing during the clashes.Mohamed’s father Bassem said that his son was not throwing stones and had simply gone to observe the demonstration. He added that his wife and daughter were lightly injured as a result of their confrontation with the soldier.
For years, Nabi Salih has been the site of weekly Friday demonstrations against Israel’s military presence in the West Bank.The Tamimi family is well known for its activist activities.Ahed was filmed two years ago shaking her fist at an IDF soldier in another video that went viral. She was then invited to Turkey, where she was honored by then prime minister and current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Palestinian girl confronts a soldierYisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman called on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to hold an urgent debate on the IDF actions. He said that the video portrayed Israel as weak and was the direct result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s feeble leadership.