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by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Israeli activists caught on film an attack by an Israeli settlement security guard on a Palestinian shepherd Monday, near the Palestinian village of Susya in the southern West Bank on Monday.

he shepherd was identified as Na'al Abu Aram, but the Israeli security guard, apparently from the Israeli illegal outpost called 'Avigail' that was built on stolen Palestinian land, was not identified.

The guard beat, punched, kicked and shoved the shepherd, then ran after his flock of sheep to scare them. Two Israeli soldiers were present at the time of the beating, but they did not intervene.

Avigail was established on stolen land by former Israeli soldiers in 2001. The soldiers entered the land, which belongs to local Palestinians, and installed trailers. They moved in, heavily armed, and began to harass the local villagers and shepherds. No attempt has been made by the Israeli government to remove the trespassing Israelis from the land that they illegally seized by force.

In Monday's incident, the security guard told reporters with Ynetnews, which obtained and published the video of the incident, that he was being unfairly slandered, and that it was the shepherd who attacked him.

He claimed that the local residents were being accompanied by 'anarchist activists' who try to 'incite provocations'. The guard was apparently referring to Israeli human rights workers who arrived on the scene to try to document abuses reported to them by local Palestinian residents.

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On tape: Settler attacks Palestinian shepherd

Security officer of West Bank outpost documented attacking Palestinian shepherd; officer says he was just pushing shepherd away after latter threatened him

Elior Levy
Published: 03.11.13, 19:42 / Israel News

A Palestinian who was tending to his herd a few hundred meters from the Avigail outpost in the south Mount Hebron area was attacked for no apparent reason by the outpost's security officer on Saturday.

The officer claimed two Palestinian children had approached the Jewish outpost.

video obtained by Ynet shows the security officer grabbing the shepherd, Na'al Abu Aram, and punching him as an IDF soldier looks on. The security officer is later seen shoving the Palestinian and running toward the herd to scare the sheep away.

Following the incident, another Palestinian turned to the officer and said: "You're hitting him; he's not hitting you. There are cameras, everything, there's even a soldier here."



At this point, the Palestinians asked that the officer be removed from the scene, as he said to the Palestinian man who was attacked: "You hit me now? You're going to pay."

After the incident, the security officer told Ynet: "The shepherd arrived at the area accompanied by anarchist activists who are known to incite provocations on a regular basis. As you can see in the video, the shepherd grabbed me and threatened me with a stick. In an attempt to break loose from his hold I pushed him away from me. The video was taped and edited in a manipulative manner aimed at slandering me.

"This is not the first time that the same shepherd has attacked me or threatened residents," the officer added. "Two and a half years ago he was caught stealing from the yard of one of the houses, and in another incident he said that he keeps showing up in the area because the IDF had killed his cousin three years ago and he will not rest until he avenges his death. I've filed a complaint against him with the police before," said the officer.

"The security forces, IDF and police must prevent provocateurs from arriving at the outpost and bring along potential terrorists into the area and risk the lives of out children. I, as well as the rest of the residents of Avigail, have been friendly with the Palestinians in the area, except for those who are provoked by anarchists."