JERUSALEM — A video showing an Israeli soldier scuffling with Palestinian youths and women at a West Bank protest has been viewed more than 2 million times on Facebook, shining a light on Israeli military policies in the territory.
In the edited video, the masked soldier is seen holding a 12-year-old boy, his arm in a cast, in a chokehold in an attempt to arrest him. The soldier is swarmed by the boy’s female relatives, including his mother and sister, who pull at his skin and uniform and slap him. The boy’s sister, a 15-year-old sporting a blonde braid, is seen biting the soldier’s hand. Bystanders yell, “He is a little boy. His arm is broken.”
The soldier struggles with the boy, and then the female crowd, which ripped the mask off his face, for about a minute before a commanding officer arrives to assist him. The soldier then frees himself and releases the boy, angrily throwing a small stun grenade at a group of people as he walks away.
The original video, which was provided to The Associated Press by its creator, Bilal Tamimi, a local activist and the boy’s relative, showed the same footage. Tamimi said Palestinians had hurled stones at the troops, but that he hadn’t seen the boy throw stones, though photos broadcast on Israeli TV seemed to show the boy hurling a stone.