barfly
25-11-02, 14:44
sraelis make Palestinian strip naked -witnesses
By Mohammed Assadi
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Three Israeli
soldiers forced a Palestinian man to strip naked at gunpoint and
walk like a dog in a West Bank city under curfew, Palestinian
witnesses said on Monday.
A Reuters photographer snapped Yasser Sharaf, 25, standing
naked in a cold, muddy street in Nablus on Sunday as two men
were handing him clothes to put on and two Israeli armoured
vehicles were pulling away from the scene.
Sharaf declined to comment on Monday about the incident.
Israeli military sources denied that Sharaf was forced to
strip, saying checks with soldiers involved determined that he
had been ordered only to raise his shirt to show whether he was
carrying explosives.
"When he saw members of the media in the area, he decided to
undress completely," a military source told Reuters.
Witnesses including two Palestinian firemen said Israeli
soldiers stopped Sharaf after spotting him walking in a street
in violation of curfew and, "pointing their rifles at him,
ordered him to start stripping".
"Yasser told them he had nothing to hide but they continued
shouting and readied their rifles to shoot," fireman Samir
el-Lifdawi told Reuters by telephone from Nablus.
"They forced Yasser to take off all his clothes including
his underwear...They ordered him to walk like a dog and then he
burst into tears," Lifdawi said.
He said he watched the incident unfold from a fire station a
few metres (yards) away. A colleague, Sultan al-Minawi, provided
the same account.
"He kept crying and was in a very stressful situation...
"Many residents, including women, watched him and he was very
embarrassed," Minawi said.
HUMILIATION
Palestinian civilians have often complained of being
humiliated and abused by Israeli troops who have reoccupied
Palestinian-administered West Bank cities to combat an uprising
for statehood spearheaded by armed militants.
The army says strict controls on Palestinian residents are
necessary because militants hide among the population and wear
civilian clothing when they carry out suicide bombings.
Scenes of Palestinians rolling up their shirts to prove they
are not hiding bomb belts have become frequent since the Israeli
army swept into West Bank cities in June after a spate of
suicide attacks which have killed scores of Israeli civilians.
Sunday's incident in Nablus would be the first time a
Palestinian was reported to have been ordered to strip naked in
a security operation. Palestinian civilians have complained of
being ordered to strip to their underwear at roadblocks.
At least 1,678 Palestinians and 662 Israelis have been
killed in the two-year-old uprising.
((Jerusalem newsroom, +972 2 537 0502,
jerusalem.newsroomreuters.com))
REUTERS
By Mohammed Assadi
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Three Israeli
soldiers forced a Palestinian man to strip naked at gunpoint and
walk like a dog in a West Bank city under curfew, Palestinian
witnesses said on Monday.
A Reuters photographer snapped Yasser Sharaf, 25, standing
naked in a cold, muddy street in Nablus on Sunday as two men
were handing him clothes to put on and two Israeli armoured
vehicles were pulling away from the scene.
Sharaf declined to comment on Monday about the incident.
Israeli military sources denied that Sharaf was forced to
strip, saying checks with soldiers involved determined that he
had been ordered only to raise his shirt to show whether he was
carrying explosives.
"When he saw members of the media in the area, he decided to
undress completely," a military source told Reuters.
Witnesses including two Palestinian firemen said Israeli
soldiers stopped Sharaf after spotting him walking in a street
in violation of curfew and, "pointing their rifles at him,
ordered him to start stripping".
"Yasser told them he had nothing to hide but they continued
shouting and readied their rifles to shoot," fireman Samir
el-Lifdawi told Reuters by telephone from Nablus.
"They forced Yasser to take off all his clothes including
his underwear...They ordered him to walk like a dog and then he
burst into tears," Lifdawi said.
He said he watched the incident unfold from a fire station a
few metres (yards) away. A colleague, Sultan al-Minawi, provided
the same account.
"He kept crying and was in a very stressful situation...
"Many residents, including women, watched him and he was very
embarrassed," Minawi said.
HUMILIATION
Palestinian civilians have often complained of being
humiliated and abused by Israeli troops who have reoccupied
Palestinian-administered West Bank cities to combat an uprising
for statehood spearheaded by armed militants.
The army says strict controls on Palestinian residents are
necessary because militants hide among the population and wear
civilian clothing when they carry out suicide bombings.
Scenes of Palestinians rolling up their shirts to prove they
are not hiding bomb belts have become frequent since the Israeli
army swept into West Bank cities in June after a spate of
suicide attacks which have killed scores of Israeli civilians.
Sunday's incident in Nablus would be the first time a
Palestinian was reported to have been ordered to strip naked in
a security operation. Palestinian civilians have complained of
being ordered to strip to their underwear at roadblocks.
At least 1,678 Palestinians and 662 Israelis have been
killed in the two-year-old uprising.
((Jerusalem newsroom, +972 2 537 0502,
jerusalem.newsroomreuters.com))
REUTERS