55 thoughts on “B’Tselem Demands IDF Cease Using Attack Dogs on Palestinian Day Laborers – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Earlier this week, Ben-Yosef Livnat was murdered by a Palestinian police man after a prayer in Kever Yosef in the city of Nablus. Yosef grave should be open to Jews according to the Oslo accord.

    if all the Palestinians are getting are few canine bites i would conclude that they get a much better treatment.
    http://news.walla.co.il/?w=/9/1817850

    1. The number of Palestinian civilians killed/murdered by the security forces is 6 times that of Israeli civilians over a period going back many yrs. So if you want to score pts by putting up Israeli bodies alongside Palestinian ones–you lose.

      Look, this is pure hasbara & grandstanding. If your sole purpose here is to score points, you’re in the wrong place. If you want to debate on issues of substance you’re welcome to do so. But keeping score of the body count & seeing which one is higher is something left for other sites. So if you want to participate here on those terms you’re in the wrong place.

    2. Judi, I hope that, despite your comment, you have retained some of your humanity. I also hope that if, for any reason, you or your dear ones would have to flee or illegally come to another country in order to earn som money to feed your family, no attack dogs would be unlished at you.

      1. Leonid,
        The same routes job seekers take, are being used for other things: smuggling of everything from weapons to narcotics headed into Israel, and mostly stolen cars headed out of Israel.
        Border patrol can’t be selective, and people looking for work should use basic commonsense.
        Dog’s are being used to protect the lives of the soldiers. in that aspect alone it is totally different that the Germans did during the holocaust.

        denying the access to those job seekers isn’t any different then denying access at any border point around the world (mostly in western countries).
        those who are trying to enter Israel / Palestinian (the guys that went praying) authority know they are braking the law and committing an illegal action. what happened to basic commonsense ?

        1. Judi, what you describe is not unique to Israel: the same routes taken by asylum seekers in Europe are being used by criminals, smugglers, drug and human traffickers. People looking for asylum or work or better life are often forced to do that by their miserable circumstances at home and they often risk their lives and often die (crossing the sea into Italy, Canary Islands, etc.). Border patrol can be, should be and are being selective. Of course, they should protect their own lives, but they wouldn’t use weapons or unleash dogs at asylum seekers or illegal immigrants. Those would be detained, given food and shelter and largely decently treated while their cases are being considered.

          If I may ask: what happened to your sense of basic humanity and compassion?

        2. This is utter nonsense. How is a dog protecting the life of an Israeli soldier when the Palestinian is unarmed & not even approaching or threatening the soldier. The original story from Walla & the press release never once mention ANY threat whatsoever to an IDF soldier. At least read the original source before spouting hasbara so you’ll appear to be responding to it instead of reeling off hasbarist talking pts.

          None of the Palestinians attacked were doing anything other than seeking work & the VAST majority crossing the fence are doing just that. None of these individuals was doing anything illegal except feeding his family. And if you wish them to use common sense, what would you prefer they do, allow their families to starve so they won’t get bitten by dogs??

          No other democratic western country in the world sics dogs on undocumented workers and sends them to hospitals with torn ligaments. Not on the scale that Israel does.

    3. @ Judi Cohen)
      You’re right the Grave of Joseph should be open to Jews according to the Oslo Accord – but within a certain time schedule, and the group including Livnat did not respect the schedule if my informations are correct, and they include Israeli newspapers.

      So I guess you’re pleading for the respect of the Oslo Accord in general ? What about the settlers: they were supposed more or less to get behind the Green Line according to Oslo, weren’t they ?

    1. Palestinians are entering Israel to work just as Mexicans are entering the U.S. for the same reason where we also have a border fence in many places. Does the Immigration Service use attack dogs or machine guns? No. Why does the IDF need attack dogs on unarmed Palestinians seeking to do day laboring inside Israel??

      I don’t mind your disagreement but could you at least attempt to answer forthrightly & w. a little thought to yr answers? Do you really think siccing dogs on an unarmed man is reasonable? In fact, it violates international AND Israeli law as stated by B’Tselem in its own letter.

    2. Fuster, I sencerely hope that you would never have to cross borders illegally in order to provide for your family and that if, God forbid, you would have to do that, you’d be treated humanely and no attack dogs would be released at you.

    3. Well soon there are thousands Jew living on the other side of the border, in Palestine. What if they are trying to sneak over the border to Israel, will the Israeli police use same “dog doctrine” against them. We know that they will not. Israeli police uses the dog attacks in most cases only to humiliate the Palestinians. A military dog will not attack anybody without a command by its master and the dogs do not run alone among the population. In 99 percent of the biting cases there is a command given to the dog by a person. The dog in the picture was commanded to attack, so there is no excuse of that. Soon a dog’s target will be Jewish women, what will we say then?

      In a year or two Palestinians will have their own state. What if they begin to treat Jews like Palestinians have been treated for decades. What will these Israel fanatics say when Jews visiting West Bank are attacked by a Palestinian military dogs in Israeli style – for fun and sport and the Palestinians laughing when the dog does its “work” in “protecting” lives. Well then begins that old noisy anti-Semitism crying by the same people who praised using dogs against Arabs. They seem not understanding that revenge is not a Jewish monopoly.

      There is a saying that what you plant in the field is what you will get. Palestinian police shooting Jews on the roadblocks on their area is and will be hardly “wrong”, if it is done using the same doctrines and rules Israeli Jews use and used when they have been shooting those numerous Palestinians on their roadblocks. It is easy then to say that the (terrorist) Jew tried to attack us with a knife or we thought that the beer can was a bomb. When a settler home, clinic or synagogue is destroyed it is done because of the “weapon cache”. ETC. Naturally Palestinians will inspect the events in Israeli style.

  2. Richard, Leonid

    in circumstances where borders are between nations at peace, attack dogs are not appropriate.

    circumstances at Israel’s borders are different, as I’m sure that you’re aware. there are endless things about Israel that I despise, but the need to seal their borders is blindingly obvious.

    and in situations where infiltrators may be wearing explosive vests, dogs are an appropriate alternative to having soldiers stand at a distance and shoot.

    the situation overall is lousy, and hopefully the West Bank will soon be under new management, but sneaking across the border into Israel is not a good nor reasonable idea at present.

    sadly, it’s more reasonable for hungry Palestinians to accept UN distributed food aid.

    1. in circumstances where borders are between nations at peace

      Now isn’t that funny, I didn’t know Israel was at war with the PA. I know Bibi says he has ‘no partner,’ but I didn’t realize a war had been declared & I somehow missed it.

      the need to seal their borders is blindingly obvious

      Not so obvious since Israel does not seal its borders at all. In fact, thousands of Palestinians travel back & forth across yours every day & almost universally without incident except of course these cursed attacks on them by the IDF & immigration personnel.

      infiltrators may be wearing explosive vests

      When was the last time something like this happened?? Years ago. Gimme a break. The border is porous. It is easy to get across. If someone wanted to do a suicide bombing they could, but they don’t. Either you’re lying to yrself or you realize that dogs attacking unarmed men who are clearly doing nothing other than traveling to find work is heinous.

      sneaking across the border into Israel is not a good nor reasonable idea at present.

      No, actually it’s quite a reasonable idea for men who have no other means of supporting their families than working by the sweat of their brow. If you have other alternatives or money to invest in West Bank jobs, please do so. Then it will be “reasonable” for them to work nearer to home.

      it’s more reasonable for hungry Palestinians to accept UN distributed food aid.

      No, it’s never reasonable for anyone to live off charity when they could be living off their own labor. The fact that Israel criminalizes such activity is yet another indication of how messed up its priorities are.

      1. Only the refugees qualify for UN food aid. This means that the inhabitants of Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem are actually materially better off than some of their immediate neighbours, including one of the regulars at my women’s group. I always feel nervous when I go to visit Georgette, because she gives her guests whatever food she has in the house – and I know that she will go without a meal because of me. But she has made it clear that her dignity is more important to her than her stomach, so I eat what she offers. Neither of us mentions her poverty. She feels ashamed and degraded by it.

        It’s a horrible situation to be in. People don’t just want money to live off – having a job confers dignity on you, it makes you feel useful, it occupies your mind. Unemployment in Palestinian society is extremely high. People will risk a lot just so that they can go to work. I hope that you never end up in a position like this.

        For anybody wanting to understand the situation of Palestine’s illegal workers, I strongly recommend that you read Suad Amiry’s book ‘Nothing to Lose but My Life’. Suad disguised herself as a man in order to cross into Israel with the illegal workers, and the resulting book is a very moving and informative read.

        1. Vicky, poverty and unemployment are no jokes.
          There are many reasons and many different groups of people that came together to insure that poverty and unemployment and misery remain features of life in Palestine.

          The US sent the PA half a billion bucks in 2010, mostly for development projects and humanitarian aid. The EU might have sent more than that.

          This is in addition to the UN aid, half of which is underwritten by the US with another quarter coming from the UK.

          Better and more honest leadership in the PA has recently emerged with the end of the Arafat era, and money from the Gulf States, already starting to arrive, will greatly increase when Palestinian leadership coalesces.

          1. The US sent the PA half a billion bucks in 2010, mostly for development projects and humanitarian aid.

            That’s false. In fact, the vast majority of the funds were spent on building PA security. Some funds were spent on economic development. Only some, but not most.

            Israel is the primary party insuring Palestinian poverty as it has placed severe restrictions through blockades & checkpoints which prevent free movement and commerce. Not to mention land seizures, seizure of water resources, & other dislocations which harm Palestinian economic interests. Israel needs to leave the W. Bank entirely & let Palestine’s economy develop freely. BTW, this will also expand Israel’s economy too as the Palestinian market could be quite large at some pt in the future if allowed to develop freely.

      2. Richard , if you think that peace exists between Israel and tis neighbors, you are quite an unusual thinker.

        –control is a better word than is “seal” but the point stands.

        —I’m not lying to myself or anyone else, and I don’t appreciate that you continue to use the term. The question isn’t “when the last time it happened” was, it’s when it was last attempted and how often it has happened.

        and again, it would be lovely if peace does come and the borders are open, but, despite the hardship of it, Israel is not responsible for the provision of gainful employment of Palestinians. it’s responsible primarily for securing the lives of Israelis.

        it’s not reasonable for Israel not to control its borders and the it’s more reasonable for Palestinians to find employment and sustenance outside of Israel.

        the Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank have resulted in many awful injustices, and much harm to Palestinians, but opening the borders is not an answer at present.

        —No, it’s never reasonable for anyone to live off charity when they could be living off their own labor. The fact that Israel criminalizes such activity is yet another indication of how messed up its priorities are.—

        is an example of how skewed your priorities are. Israel does not criminalize living off their own labor rather than by charity.
        don’t know how you can twist things this much and don’t believe that you’re lying or ignorant or fail to possess intellect sufficient to avoid such a messed-up formulation.

        1. if you think that peace exists between Israel and tis neighbors

          That’s not what this debate was about. I was talking about ONE neighbor, the PA, with which Israel is not at war. Yet you claim the IDF should be allowed to attack Palestinians because Israel is at war w. these unarmed men and their gov’t. Interesting.

          Israel is not responsible for the provision of gainful employment of Palestinians.

          That’s not the way human societies work. If you have work in Israel and Palestinians have none they will come into yr country whether you want them to or not. If they have jobs inside Palestine that are comparable to what they could find inside Israel they will not enter yr country. So it doesn’t matter what you or Israel wants to happen. When a man can feed his family work close to home he will remain there. When he can’t he will go wherever he must to feed them.

          it’s more reasonable for Palestinians to find employment and sustenance outside of Israel.

          Sorry, but the phenomenon of workers migrating to find jobs doesn’t rely on yr definition of “reason.” It is a simple matter of economics, where the jobs are, & how hard they are to get. No matter how hard you or the IDF make it to get into Israel Palestinians will continue to come until they can find better work elsewhere. It’s really a law of economic nature.

          opening the borders is not an answer at present.

          Ultimately, it is the only answer & one that will create enormous benefit for both parties.

          Israel does not criminalize living off their own labor

          Of course it does. What do you call dog’s tearing up the tendons of poor Palestinian working men seeking a decent day’s labor??

          1. Richard,

            —–” I was talking about ONE neighbor, the PA, with which Israel is not at war. Yet you claim the IDF should be allowed to attack Palestinians because Israel is at war..”—-

            twist it as you will, any you do try, but Israel is not at peace with the PA. the truth is that peace has never come and Israel is still in belligerent occupation of the West Bank.

            the circumstances (I guess) that allows PA police to shoot at and kill Israelis entering Nablus to pray without permission from the PA demonstrate that peace hasn’t yet arrived.

            and you’re still twisting when you say that I assert that Israel should be allowed to attack Palestinians because they’re at war. what I am asserting is that Israel is allowed to control they’re own territory and to refuse or allow admission as they will. those people refusing permission and attempting to sneak into the country are subject to the same treatment of armed interdiction, attack, and arrest that they would be sneaking across other borders.

            we agree that ultimately opening the borders IS the answer, but present reality does not permit it, Richard.

            —–Israel does not criminalize living off their own labor
            Of course it does. What do you call dog’s tearing up the tendons of poor Palestinian working men seeking a decent day’s labor??——-

            if you keep ignoring the distinction between defending against trespass and criminalizing honest labor, I’m either gonna start thinking that you’re either choking my chicken or you’re not as intellectually gifted as I have assumed, and I do not wish to abandon that assumption.

          2. Israel is not at peace with the PA.

            Guess you never got the memo then, because there is no state of war that I know of. In fact, your prime minister is about to deliver a faux “peace plan” to the world before the U.S. Congress. Who will that peace plan concern? A fictional set of “good,” “moderate Palestinians” w. whom you & Bibi can do business because they’re sufficiently pliable and obeisant to Israeli interests?

            Are you saying that Israeli settlers who understand the rules about praying at the Tomb and violate them have only the PA to blame for their death? Maybe if Israel wasn’t occupying the West Bank and there weren’t 300,000 settlers there with tens of thousands of troops supporting them then the area wouldn’t be the powder keg it is & people wouldn’t be killed on both sides. Did you ever stop to think of that possibility?? Nah, didn’t think so.

            Israel is allowed to control they’re own territory

            But when dogs attack Palestinians before they’ve even approached the Wall, then they’re actually invading Palestinian territory & NOT controlling Isrsaeli territory. Second, Israel CANNOT control it’s own territory just as European states & the U.S. cannot fully control their own borders when there is such a huge disparity between the relative wealth of one & poverty of the other. So IDF dogs are futile. Palestinians will come, the dogs won’t matter, they will take jobs, earn money, return to their families. Some will end up with torn tendons & bite wounds & hospital visits & stays in military prisons. And all because Israel refuses to end the Occupation & allow Palestine to develop fully commerically, economically & politically, which might actually bring an end to the cross border traffic due to an equilibrium bet. the 2 economies.

            subject to the same…armed interdiction, attack

            No, this is a violation of both Israeli & international law. A democratic nation, if it is democratic, doesn’t ‘attack’ unarmed illegals & undocumented workers. Not unless it wishes to be made a pariah among “civilized” nations.

            present reality does not permit it

            Certainly it does. Agree to 67 borders, withdraw settlers, recognize a Palestinian state, accept all those new Arab ambassadors clamoring to set up shop in Jerusalem, exchange ambassadors with Palestine, & watch as tens of thousands of new jobs & billions in new trade develops. When your PM agrees to that the border situation will become normalized. Until then, you’re up shit’s creek w/o a paddle I’m afraid.

            defending against trespass

            Using attack dogs & shooting unarmed illegals is not “defense” of anything. It is aggressive & against a violation of international law.

          3. Richard, assumption is being revised.

            —–Israel is not at peace with the PA.
            Guess you never got the memo then, because there is no state of war that I know of. In fact, your prime minister is about to deliver a faux “peace plan” to the world before the U.S. Congress—–

            guess you need to think some more.

            one doesn’t issue plans to achieve peace, phony or not, when peace is already a fact.

            d
            u
            h

          4. Israel is not at peace with the PA.

            The PA is at peace with Israel and Israel has recognized the PA, so when was war declared? I guess since the PA is at peace w. Israel yet you are somehow at war with the PA that this would label Israel & you as the aggressor. Just as this story confirms.

          5. —-The PA is at peace with Israel and Israel has recognized the PA, so when was war declared?——-

            you’re reaching the point where it’s hard to believe in your good faith in arguing the point.

            wars aren’t always declared and the lack of such declaration doesn’t suffice as a proof of peace.
            it’s not an either/or Richard.
            you’re not always at peace when you’re fighting and you’re not always at peace when you’re not.

            there’s hasn’t really been peace since 1947….at least.

            Israel and the PA were supposedly “at peace” when the second intifada kicked off.

          6. wars aren’t always declared

            The definition of a “war” is that it is in some formal way declared. It’s different than an insurgency or guerilla conflict. I’m afraid wars ARE either/or.

            Israel and the PA were supposedly “at peace” when the second intifada kicked off.

            That’s a non sequitur. You said that dogs legitimately attack unarmed Palestinian workers because Israel is at war NOW with the PA. There is no intifada going on now, the workers are no threat to Israel or the IDF, & there isn’t a war declared or otherwise except in yr mind & that of Israeli nationalists.

          7. that’s correct Richard, wars aren’t always declared and when you refuse to acknowledge that Israel isn’t at peace by insisting that Israel isn’t at war…..you’re screwing around with the truth by relying on an evasive formula that is false.
            “not openly in a declared war” does not equal “at peace”.

            it’s all legit, Richard. dogs are better than shooting trespassers and Israel is still subject to people threatening to carry out terror attacks and they’re still likely to attempt to cross from the Bank to do it.

            it’s going to be a while before the Israelis are certain that people sneaking across aren’t wearing vests and it’s going to be a while before open borders.

            placing security above respect for trespassers is also legit.

            some lousy consequences from having to make that choice, but wars (or not-peaces) HAVE lousy consequences.

          8. Here is the beginning of a good definition of “war” supplied by Wikipedia:

            War is an openly declared state of organized conflict

            The alleged “war” you’ve “declared” bet. Israel & the PA isn’t “openly declared” and isn’t “organized” in the sense that real wars are. Sorry, you’ve failed at this again. And that was your last comment on the subject. We’re done arguing about this. You are welcome to comment in other threads on other subjects, but no longer on this one.

            dogs are better than shooting trespassers

            You missed in the B’Tselem press release & my blog post that they shot some of these unarmed laborers AND sicced dogs on ’em. So the IDF believes that shooting ’em AND tearing their tendons up is better than treating them like human beings even if they are undocumented workers. And btw, the Israeli immigration authorities don’t treat non-Palestinian illegals who aren’t suspected of any terror act much better. So it seems that Israel dehumanizes anyone who isn’t Israeli against the specific injunction of the Torah which urges us to “remember the stranger for you yourself was a stranger in the Land of Egypt.” It doesn’t say “shoot the stranger” or “sic an attack dog on the stranger.” Does it?

            some lousy consequences from having to make that choice

            Yeah, one lousy consequence is someone like you who can’t see straight what’s happening to your own country.

        2. Richard, in my country we call comments such as yours thickheaded.

          You repeatedly fail to understand a very simple point.

          War and peace are not binary states and every time that you answer my comment that Israel is not at peace with the Palestinians by again replying that they’re not at war you repeat that error.

          It’s boring to have you continue saying the same erroneous thing.

          In my country we would say that you’re either just
          pulling your pud too much or you’re not playing with a full deck.

          1. Yes, I’m afraid that war & peace are quite opposite, though perhaps you’ve missed that fact due to a translation issue. There are other words one may use to convey the fact that a conflict is not a full fledged war. But you didn’t use any of those terms. You said “war” & you are wrong. Not only is Israel not at war with the PA, it is in fact at peace w. it.

            In my country we would say

            In my country they call people like you rude & obnoxious. In my religion they say you have no sense of derech eretz.

          2. Richard, you silly, silly thing. Go to my first comment.

            I said that Israel is not at peace with the neighbors.
            YOU are the person repeatedly thinking that you’re contradicting me by saying that they are not at war.

            You’ve also decided to tell me about MY country and MY prime minister.

            Another bit of wrongheadedness from you.

            We don’t have a prime minister in my country.

            You seem to argue without much ability to read what the other person is writing and instead just make s#!t up?

            Why?

          3. No, you said allowing dogs to attack unarmed Palestinians was justified because Israel was at war with the Palestinians. Don’t try to change your own rhetoric.

            Your views mirror so closely those of the pro-Israelist crowd you’ll have to forgive me for assuming you are Israeli. If there’s no daylight between you & the Bibistas then people will assume you are Israeli.

            you silly, silly thing.

            And knock off the inane comments trying to be too cute by half.

            I told you to end this discussion & I mean it. We’re done with the argument. Go on to another thread or your privileges will be further restricted.

  3. Interstingly I found this link http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=92c_1233670269&comments=1 Which has a video of the woman in the picture.
    Was the dog “sicced” on her?
    Are the soldiers trying to pry the dog off?
    How is it there is both video footage from afar as well as an up close photgrapher of the same incident.
    Dare I question if the incident was provoked or stage for the sake of some palestinian propoganda?

    1. @Duhay,
      I’m not sure what you’re driving at. We see part of the video after the dog attacked. The dog is already biting into the poor woman’s hand, so we don’t know from the video what happened before that. Yes, the soldiers are trying to take the dog away. You don’t know how a photographer can use a lense to zoom in from a distance?
      You can dare question what you want, but you’d better come up with some evidence instead of insinuations.

      1. Look, the fact that the woman was attacked by a dog is in no way a laughing matter.
        Bu I am not the one insinuating that IDF soldiers are “siccing” dogs on innocent bystanders….that is still up in the air. All I am presenting is eveidence that a woman is being attacked by a dog and IDF soldiers are coming to her rescue. I am sure you can look up videos of people siccing dogs on someone and compare the ultimate behaviours. Furthermore, there may very well be a problem with IDF soldiers mis-using their dogs. Is that in fact what is being portrayed inthe picture that accompanies this post? Or is this just a picture of some unfortunate incident that is being used to drive home a point. I don’t know, neither does the author.

        1. In Richard’s post, I don’t see any reference to this particular incident. The post is about B’Tselem’s appeal to the IDF not to use attack dogs on the undocumented Palestinian workers. So let’s discuss the matter in question.

          1. Exactly my point. Richard, by the way is not alone in this tactic. Very often the media blares a headline and then shows a picture that may or may not be related to that headline. The Palestinians are masters of this. Our friend Deir Yasin calls it Pallywood. Thus association by insinuation and a whole perception is created leading the non-thinkers among us to now believve that Israeli soldiers “sicced” that dog on that woman.

          2. This is not a “tactic” nor did I do anything wrong. My caption clearly indicated what was portrayed in the photo. The text of my post clearly portrayed a different set of incidents & the B’Tselem press release made clear that while there were photos of the incidents with the workers, they were taken by the IDF. And the photographers persisted in photographing despite the fact that their dogs were severely wounding helpless Palestinian men, which is egregiouis conduct. Will you do us a favor & ask the IDF to release them?

            When the IDF comes into a community with attack dogs & a woman is mercilessly attacked by said dogs then its a very reasonable assumption that they sicced the dogs on her. If you watch the video I did of this incident it is a cruel, brutal & merciless attack on a helpless woman. Nothing you should be proud of, but rather the opposite. And don’t you dare invoke “Pallywood” or any such denigration of the validity of this image. It is real & the suffering in it is real. I will not let you deny Palestinian suffering.

          3. Exactly right, Leonid. The photo & its caption do not claim the photo shows undocmented Palestinian workers attacked by dogs. In fact, since they were being attacked, the workers in question couldn’t whip out their cell phones & take pictures of themselves being attacked. That’s why I displayed a diff. photo of another Palestinian, this time a woman, being attacked by the same attack dogs used against the workers. I will try to display here photos of the wounds inflicted on these Palestinian workers as soon as I have access to them.

          4. @ Duhay)
            No, I don’t call it Pallywood. People such such as you DO.
            Everytime a Palestinian civilian is assaulted or killed by Tsahal, a little army of Hasbaradim starts working to ‘prove’ it’s Pallywood. Your insinuation about the photo shows that you’re part of that army of Hasbara-soldiers.

        2. The dog is clearly not a stray of the sort that are seen in the West Bank. For one thing, it’s wearing a collar. For another, it looks like an Alsatian. This is the breed most commonly trained as police dogs. It is only logical to suppose that the dog belongs to the soldiers – after all, their use of dogs is well-known; and given the widespread cultural distaste for dogs in Palestinian society, it’s highly unlikely that it’s a pet that has just happened to attack a passing woman right as the soldiers just happened to be passing by. What are the chances of this, realistically?

          It may be that the dog attacked of its own accord, going against its training; or that the soldiers commanded it to attack, but then couldn’t get it to release the woman. It’s possible that they didn’t intend her to get hurt. This doesn’t exonerate them. Forget soldiers trying to rescue Palestinians from dogs – I have seen soldiers trying to rescue Palestinians from other soldiers. The fact that they sometimes act according to the good doesn’t change the reality: they are in the West Bank to facilitate a dispossession, and by necessity this means being cruel. Why should it surprise people? You can’t conduct an occupation kindly. It’s just not possible.

          1. widespread cultural distaste for dogs in Palestinian society

            Is there a reason for this? I’ve always wondered why I never see Palestinians with dogs.

          2. @ Shai)
            Dogs are considered (ritually) unclean in Islam:
            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_animals#Dogs

            Lately, I overheard two North African immigrants talking about a common acquaintance. One of them asked whether he was okay, doing fine, adapting to the country etc., and the other one answered: “Oh yes, he even has a dog !”

          3. Isn’t there a prohibition in Judaism against keeping animals in the house or something like that? In any event, none of our large extended family ever kept dogs, except one uncle. I personally grew up with a fear of dogs and am still quite cautious when I meet one.

          4. Is anyone here denying this dog was an IDF attack dog? I have the video of the entire incident & it most certainly was & the video shows an entire group of soldiers desperately trying to pry the dog off her for 2-3 minutes time during which she herself is clearly being bitten & is in pain. That’s why they have to use electric shocks against the dogs in these situations. Apparently the IDF is very good at commanding their dogs to attack but doesn’t do much to train them to release on command.

          5. The dog looks like Belgian Malinois, a breed commonly used for guard and police work. Some Malinois can be temperamentally unstable which would make them unsuitable for this type of work.

            I would say based on the video that the dog appears to be completely out of control, even after they get it to stop biting the woman. If the handler needs to physically stop a dog from biting, and if they have to use cattle prods to force dogs to stop attacking, then either they are dong a terrible job of screening dogs for their program, or their training and handling methods are incompetent, or more likely both. Only extremely stable dogs should be chosen for this type of work, and even a moderately well-trained dog stops biting on command and does not need to be pulled off a victim, or – heaven forbid! – shocked with a cattle prod (what are they carrying cattle prods for, anyway?). These guys look bloody incompetent in every way. Trying to pull a dog who is biting is completely stupid. It makes them bit down harder, and pulling them away while they are holding onto the victim guarantees that a puncture wound will be turned into a severe tear. Everything those guys did in this video is wrong.

            More and more the Israeli military look like nothing but a bunch of incompetent yahoos with severe testosterone poisoning.

          6. Incompetent yes. But perhaps they just don’t care about getting the dogs off the victim. They only care to ensure that the dog bites or attacks. The release part is unnecessary (to them).

    2. This is ludicrous. Are you claiming the woman staged having a dog attack her mercilessly along with IDF soldiers swarming around her & desperately trying to pry the dog off her? And it takes them 2-3 minutes to do so during which the dog has clearly sunk its teeth into her flesh. Are you claming this is something she did willingly? Are you out of yr mind???

      I have a video of the incident which describes it precisely as I’ve done so above.

  4. 2Shai

    –Is there a reason for this? I’ve always wondered why I never see Palestinians with dogs.–

    probably because dogs prefer peace and quiet in the human part of the population and there’s too much tension in I/P.

    of course, widespread poverty means fewer pets and animals that work.

  5. i looked carefully at the picture and can say for 100% this is a bad photoshop work. can’t belive that a serious man like Richard Silverstein give a hand to a lie.
    please mr. Silverstein can you ad the name of the photographer and a high quality image ? a journalist must ask himself is he delivering the truth or just a propoganda/

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