Hebron: IDF soldiers expose themselves to Palestinians

VIDEO - IDF soldiers who arrived at the Maon Farm settlement outpost near the West Bank city of Hebron exposed their rear ends to Palestinians in an attempt to make them evacuate nearby grazing fields, Palestinian sources and foreign peace activists claimed Sunday. On Sunday, the soldiers were sentenced to 21 days incarceration in a military prison and suspended from operational duty until further notice. Ynet has received exclusive footage of the incident, which took place on January 11. Sean, the foreign peace activist who filmed the soldiers, said activists and foreign volunteers from a Christian organization were escorting Palestinians in the south Mount Hebron area to protect them from local Jewish settlers when the soldiers arrived. "It was around noon we were accompanying shepherds from the village of Tuba to a nearby Wadi, because the settlers regularly hassle them and throw stones in our direction," he recounted. "The settlers demanded that the shepherds evacuate the area, and IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene also attempted to clear the Palestinian shepherds from their grazing fields then, in the middle of the argument and for no apparent reason, the soldiers pulled down their pants and exposed their rear ends to us." Local Palestinian farmers have been claiming that the Maon Farm settlers harass them on a regular basis, adding that soldiers are often called to the scene to restore order. MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) said the footage was "Abu Ghraib prison (in Iraq), IDF-style… the soldiers of any occupation are immoral by definition, but the IDF soldiers who exposed themselves have long been stripped of their humane values. "It's not surprising that this vile act happened in the (West Bank city of) Hebron. The Israeli society should be shamed by this footage, especially the families who raised such monsters," added Tibi. Hadash Chairman MK Mohammad Barakeh said that "starting with the Winograd cover-up, to (Attorney General Menachem) Mazuz's whitewashing the October 2000 riots, the Israeli army is deteriorating… these days it seems that that's not only the soldiers of occupation's moral standard, it just might be their ultimate weapon." The IDF Spokesperson's Office said in response that "this was apparently a severe and rare occurrence, which contradicts the spirit, values and norms the army demands of its soldiers. The incident is being investigated by the Central Command and those responsible will face the consequences." The soldiers in question, added the Spokesperson's Office, were suspended from duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

Hebron: IDF soldiers expose themselves to Palestinians

(Video) Peace activist films Israeli soldiers exposing rear ends to Palestinian shepherds. MK Tibi: Incident IDF's Abu Ghraib. Soldiers sentenced to 21 days in prison following tape's release