Israeli police officers have been filmed shouting at an eight-year-old Palestinian girl, taking her bicycle and throwing it into the bushes in the West Bank. The footage, released by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, shows an officer running over to the girl as she plays in the street with her siblings in Hebron.
She is seen screaming and dropping her bicycle, which the armed officer then proceeds to step on as she starts to cry. The girl then runs away as the police officer shouts at her, while holding his gun. His colleague proceeds to pick up the bicycle and throw it in nearby bushes.
She had been riding her bicycle on the paved part of a road leading up to the Tomb of the Patriarchs/ Ibrahimi Mosque holy site, which is restricted for use by Jewish settlers and Israelis while Palestinians are ordered to use an unsurfaced pathway on the other side of a fence.
Anwar’s family live nearby in a flat that has no garden and frequently play out in the divided street, B’Tselem said. Ranya, the girl’s mother, told the Haaretz newspaper that since the incident took place her daughter is too frightened to leave the house.
“It was a trauma that will stay with her for her whole life,” she said.
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Sourced from Independent, Featured image courtesy: www.independent.co.uk
