Arab-American cousin of murdered Palestinian teen reportedly beaten by Israeli police
Unverified video allegedly shows police assaulting 15-year-old; police spokesman says boy was arrested during clashes in which 15 officers were injured.
By JPOST.COM STAFFA Palestinian kicks a burning tire during riots in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Tariq Khdeir, 15, of Tampa, Florida was allegedly beaten and detained by Israeli security forces, according to Palestinian media reports.Khdeir is the Palestinian-American cousin of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, who was murdered on Wednesday in a suspected revenge attack following the discovery of the bodies of the three abducted Israeli teens.A video being circulated by human rights groups allegedly shows two Israeli police officers kicking and beating the high school student. Palestinian media published photos depicting a boy with a badly bruised face, whom they claim is Khdeir.The director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Tampa told a local Florida television station that the video shows security forces "stomping on his face," and that Khdeir had been detained in Jerusalem following his participation in riot.Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld was quoted by the New York Times as saying that the footage was "edited and biased," and that it "did not represent the scope of events."Rosenfeld told the Times that Tariq was one of six people who had been arrested Thursday after clashes in which 15 police officers were injured.
