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Monday 23 Nov 2015 - 13:18 Makkah mean time-11-2-1437
Image from EI
Ramallah, (IINA) - An Israeli court recently sentenced an Israeli border police officer to 45 days of community service for the savage beating of Palestinian American teen Tariq Abukhdeir last year, The Electronic Intifada (EI) reported.
The paltry sentence is “a shameful slap on the wrist” that “sends the wrong message that Israel tolerates the violent, extrajudicial beating of children,” the Abukhdeir family said in a statement released through the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU).
The assault took place on July 3, a day after Tariq’s cousin, 16 year-old Mohammad Abu Khudair, was kidnapped from the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat and burned alive by Israelis who have yet to be convicted for the slaying more than a year later.
Tariq was on a summer visit to Palestine with his family. The gruesome beating was caught on film and went viral, along with photos of Tariq’s swollen and unrecognizable face, sparking outrage around the world, especially in the US.
The footage shows Israeli police punching, kicking and dragging the handcuffed and unconscious teenager. Tariq was then arrested without charge and thrown in jail for several days before being released on house arrest. The Israelis accused him of throwing rocks at police, which Tariq vehemently denied.
“We were disappointed to learn that the Israeli police officer who severely beat American teenager Tariq Abukhdeir in July of 2014 was spared prison time by an Israeli court,” US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said during Thursday’s daily press briefing.
In a rare rebuke to Israel, Kirby added, “Given the clear evidence captured on videotape of the excessive use of force, it is difficult to see how this sentence would promote full accountability for the actions of the police officer in this case.”
When pressed on whether the light sentence represented a pattern of impunity, Kirby responded, “I don’t think we’re at a stage now to make a leap here in terms of trend analysis.”
But as Brad Parker, an attorney for Defense for Children International-Palestine, noted in comments released through IMEU, ”This conviction must be understood within an Israeli judicial system where impunity reigns. Israel claims to open investigations into incidents involving injury and violence against Palestinian children, but indictments are incredibly rare and impunity is the norm for Israeli forces.”
Parker called it “troubling” that Tariq “possibly spent more time in detention than the unnamed officer convicted of brutally assaulting him.”
SM/IINA
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