CRIMINAL POLICE! When you read these stories, it makes your blood boil. I feel sorry for these soldiers, who are in fact being punished for fulfilling their duties. We need to do SOMETHING, this cannot go on. Period

Three Men Arrested, One Remains in Outpost
In other news related to the struggle between Land of Israel loyalists and the authorities, the Supreme Court has decided to keep in prison three Jewish residents of the Asael outpost in southern Judea. 

Asael is a small outpost near Susia.  Of its four families, three of the men are now in prison. 

The three are accused of attacking an Arab who burnt their fields.  The Supreme Court thus accepted an appeal by the Prosecution, overturning an original decision to keep the three under house arrest outside Judea and Samaria.

The Supreme Court ordered the three back to prison until further notice, and also ordered the Prison Testing Service to submit arrest reports within ten days.

The court noted in its ruling that the three are "dangerous, even if we accept their claim that the series of events began with a provocation by the Palestinian residents."  The Arab who was allegedly beaten attacked Asael a total of three times.  Asael residents filed charges with the police two months ago against him regarding arson, but no action was taken.

Yet Another Incident
Seven soldiers were arrested over the weekend for involvement in a scuffle with two Bedouin families. The Bedouins entered a beach into which civilian entry is forbidden, as it is located alongside a Navy Commando base. The soldiers were guarding the area.

The incident occurred on Saturday morning at 3:30 AM near Atlit, on Israel's northwestern coast.  The soldiers asked the Bedouin families to leave, the families refused, and a scuffle ensued - in which one of the Bedouin was injured. The Bedouin claimed that they were attacked for racist reasons, while the soldiers say they were trying to enforce the ban on civilian entry to the area.

The police arrested the seven, the Military Police has begun an investigation, and the IDF Spokesman released this somewhat mysterious announcement:
                     "At 3:30 AM, several people came to fish in a military zone that is banned from civilian entry. The soldiers guarding the base asked the civilians to leave, but they refused.  A scuffle ensued, following which the Israel Police arrived and took testimony. Because this is an incident between soldiers and civilians, Israel Police is the authority to investigate the issue.  The IDF Military Police is helping in the investigation, according to needs defined by Israel Police. In this case, too, the police asked the Military

Policeman Convicted of Violence Against Amona Youth

 
by Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) A Magistrates Court judge has found a policeman guilty of goring a youth in Amona for no reason two and a half years ago.

The judge, Yechezkel Barclay, was shown a video of the incident [the incident occurs inside of a superimposed red circle at the 6:08 minute mark], in which the accused - policeman David Atiya of Petach Tikvah - is seen arguing with a youth and then suddenly goring him in the head with his helmet.  The boy falls back, clearly in pain.

Atiya had been charged with "attacking for no reason," in that "during the eviction in Amona, he gored with his helmet the youth David Ladvin, with no prior provocation from the youth."

The Civil Rights Organization of Yesha [Judea and Samaria], headed by Orit Strook of Hevron, filed the original complaint with the Police Department's Unit for Complaints Against Policemen.  Strook's organization has filed several other similar complaints regarding violent behavior of policemen during the events at Amona.

The original complaint was submitted without the name of the gored victim, as his identity could not be ascertained.  The police claimed that a complaint could not be filed under such circumstances, but Attorney Chaim Cohen, the coordinator of the Amona Project for the Yesha Civil Rights Organization, argued otherwise: "The lack of information regarding the identity of the victim need not be an obstacle in the way of the holding of an investigation, and there are precedents to this effect."

In the end, however, after the video clip was screened on Arutz-7, the victim was located and identified within hours, and his name was added to the indictment.  Ladvin testified that he saw Atiya push a girl, and that he then challenged him, "Aren't you ashamed?"  In response, Ladvin said, Atiya gored him with his helmet. Two other witnesses corroborated Ladvin's version. 

The Prosecutor said that the accused could have used other means to detain Ladvin if it was necessary, but "he chose to use the painful, humiliating and dangerous option of goring the youth with his helmet.  Even if the accused had just undergone several difficult hours in Amona, he still was not permitted to take his rage out on the complainant and to take the law into his own hands."

Judge Barclay ruled that there was no justification for Atiya's action. 

Atiya Sued for Still More Violence
On his way out of the courtroom following his conviction, Atiya was handed papers informing him of a damages suit against him for another violent act that he committed in Amona - his alleged attack of two persons who were filming police violence during the events.