11-year-old Palestinian boy head-locked by Israeli soldier, images go viral
The weekend for social media users went on fire as a footage and images of an armed Israeli trying to arrest an 11-year-old Palestinian boy in the West Bank surfaced.
In one of the photos, the soldier put the boy in a headlock, while some women tried to pull him away from the boy who has a broken arm.
According to CNN, the arrest took place on Friday, as part of a weekly protest carried out by Palestinian activists in efforts to stop settlement construction in Nabi Saleh village in the West Bank.
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Bassem Tamimi, a well-known activist in the area and the boy's father, said he was the one who shot the footage. He also shared how his family films their demonstrations routinely, and posts the clips on a site called Nabi Saleh Solidarity.
"This is very difficult for any father or mother to see their son or daughter in that way, being violently attacked," Tamimi said.
Another photo shows Tamimi's daughter, A'hed, biting the soldier's right hand, in an effort to free her brother from the soldier's grasp.
A'hed has been the subject of several videos uploaded by the family. In a video shot two years ago, she could be seen shaking her fist at an Israeli soldier. The soldier later walks away.
Meanwhile the Israeli army aired its side, saying that the people, including the boy, threw rocks at the soldiers. An Israeli army spokeswoman said, "The forces decided to detain one of the Palestinians identified hurling rocks."
The army also said the soldier's commander stopped the clash, in attempts to calm the crowd and avoid further violence that could bring harm to other people at the scene.
Nabi Saleh residents have been known to stage protests for several years against Israel's settlement policy, and some of the protests result to violent incidents such as Palestinian youth hurling rocks at Israeli soldiers, who also react with tear gas and rubber bullets.
