Top cop smacks Arab lawyer in the face at Nakba demo

By Ami Kaufman May 16, 2011 | Edit

As more videos are surfacing and telling of yesterday’s events,one of them is going viral. In it you can see Kobi Bachar, deputy commander of the Galilee District Police, slapping an Arab lawyer roughly in the face after she asked him why he was arresting protesters.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk5DCahaD1E [/youtube]

Ynet reports:

“The protester, Attorney Maisa Arshid of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, had joined around 25 other Arab students in marking the Palestinian day of mourning over Israel’s founding.

Police had come to disperse the gathering, which took place near the border-side town of Avivim, because the protesters did not have a permit. But they refused to vacate the area, which due to escalations in violence across the border had been declared a closed military zone.”

Of course, the police reaction was that they were provoked. “Israel Police had no official comment, but the Galilee subdivision said the protesters had clearly been attempting to create a provocation. ‘Though they were told it was an illegal protest they did not respond to the police’s request to vacate the area and forces were forced to use reasonable force to disperse them. Eight were arrested,’ the district said in a statement”, Ynet continues.

Sure, you can clearly see it. I see it. I totally understand Bachar. He’s not a hotheaded new recruit. He’s an experienced officer, he knows very well what he’s doing. I feel like I can read his mind:

“That female lawyer had the nerve to ask me why I was detaining protesters, the ruler of the land? She even stood two feet away! How dare she?! If that’s not a provocation, I don’t know what is! Bam! Slap across the face! That’ll teach her. A good slap in the face. That’ll teach all them negroes to go back n’ stick to pickin’ cotton and….. oops… wait a minute…. where am I?”

Sick, sick society. Makes me nauseous.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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