Humpf, Eden Abergil thought she was tough. Fuhgedaboudit. She’s got nothin’ on Shani Sivilia, the new queen of IDF torturers. Eden is a Girl Scout by comparison. Seems Shani’s been charged not just with pretending to abuse Palestinians as Abergil did in her Facebook photos, but the real thing. She put a gun to a Palestinian boy’s head and pulled the trigger, all the while screaming he was an “Arab whore.” Now that’s what I call torture!
And of course, Sivilia isn’t in the IDF as Abergil was, she’s a member of the truly brutal police unit known for dehumanizing Palestinians on a massive scale, the Border Police. IDF soldiers are pikers by comparison.
Let’s let Ynet tell the story:
…In March 2010, [a Palestinian] minor was detained at the Rockefeller checkpoint near Jerusalem. A search revealed that he was carrying three firecrackers. After the search, police claim that Ben Ozeri [another Border Policeman] grabbed the minor’s shirt, took him behind a nearby parked bus, beat him in the jaw and kicked him in the knee.
The indictment further suggests that the victim was then handcuffed and turned over to Sivilya and another officer named Zion Benishti. The two put the minor into a squad car and during the drive to the police station Sivilya tightened his cuffs and pulled them down in order to hurt the teen.
When they reached the station, Sivilya and Benishti took the elevator with the minor where Sivilya covered his head with the coat he was wearing.
When they got out of the elevator, Sivilya kicked the teen on his behind and threatened him, saying: “Ten more minutes and you’re dead”…The two officers led the Palestinian to an empty room at the station where they lowered him to his knees with his hands still tied behind his back and his head covered.
At this point, Sivilya took out her personal weapon, cocked it, and pointed the unloaded weapon to the victim’s neck, while she counted down from 10 to one. The teen is then alleged to have screamed “no, no” after which, when she finished her countdown Sivilya pulled the trigger while yelling “Death to Arabs” and “All Arabs are whores”. During the incident Benishti urged Sivilya to stop, but she refused.
Later Sivilya took the coat off the Palestinian’s head, took one of the firecrackers found on his person and put it back in his pocket and covered his head again. She then used a lighter to make noises and scare him into thinking she was going to light the firecracker in his pocket.
Sivilya allegedly hit the victim and slapped him on the head. As a result, the teen suffered a split lip, bruises on his hands and pain in his leg. The Police Internal Investigations Department claims that Sivilya’s actions were motivated by racism.
Wandering through Sivilya’s Facebook page reveals these salient facts about her tastes and prejudices:
Activities and Fields of Interest
Land of Milk and Alcohol, and Honey and Drugs, Soldiers, Company B Jerusalem Border Police, True Israeli–Not a Shirker…
Hat tip to Ido Kenan who brought this story to my attention.
There’s even more fun!
http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4063208,00.html
She served in Sheikh Jarrah – some of the regular demonstrators recognised her. That being the case, I doubt this is the first time she has been abusive to people. Service in Sheikh Jarrah affords many opportunities for that.
She has taken her Facebook page down now. I hope it’s out of shame and not just damage limitation.
in one word Disgusting.
I never understood those who act so stupidly and then give it publicity. what’s wrong with them ?
Vicky, do you live in east Jerusalem ? have you ever visited Yad-Vashem (it’s holocaust memorial day today)
asking out of curiosity nothing more.
@ Judi Cohen)
And when you go to Yad Vashem do you ever look across to what’s left of Deïr Yassin ? There’s a mental hospital in some of the buildings. I don’t know what mental diseases they treat, though. ‘Paranoia’, ‘ethnic supremacism’, ‘blaming the victims’, I guess.
Asking out of curiosity, nothing more.
I live in Bethlehem. I have visited Yad Vashem, although it was quite a long time ago now, during my first visit here.
In the UK we commemorate the Holocaust in January. I do that with staff at the local Jewish Museum, which is very small. I prefer the intimacy of that gathering; I don’t think I would go to a place where there is likely to be a big crowd on a remembrance day.
I understand that it was Zion Benishti who reported the incident.What does that tell us?……..that Shani Sivilia’s conduct was unacceptable, even by Border Police standards.
In any similar situation,anywhere in the world you will have sadistic individuals who abuse their power.
Why this constant emphasis on negative phenomena in Israel.
Why this constant need to prove that Israel is in the wrong.
How did the New Orleans Police Dept behave?.
How does the regime in Syria behave?.
Yes,they are not relevant to this blog but behavior in Israel must be seen in a relevant context of similar situations worldwide.
I grew up in Ireland where, in the 1980’s S.A.S. squads sometimes “needed” to shoot a suspect resisting arrest.
There were 3 Border Police officers involved in this incident. The first took the 17 yr old boy to a secluded setting & beat the shit out of him. THen he delivered to boy to Sevilia who continued waling on him. Of the three, Benishti is the least culpable since he appears to have disapproved of the repeated beatings. But then again he didn’t report the incident either, which is why he’s up on charges as well. Not a good day for any of the 3 I’m afraid, though at least Benishti is willing to testify against the other two. So there is something to be said for him.
Hurricane Katrina & Syria have nothing to do with the Border Police torturing Palestinians. Nice try though.
The phenomena of soldiers/police abusing their authority is not one that is unique to Israel but one that will occur anywhere in the world under similar circumstances and to the most civilized of nations(French in Algeria,Britain in N.Ireland).
Hence it is to be seen as a symptom of a greater problem and not as a problem in itself per se.Wherever one nation tries to impose its wishes upon another nation such inexcusable actions will occur,not because the occupying
nation wishes it so but because human nature is what it is.
It is not my intention to excuse the sadistic actions of Shani Sivilia or to detract from the suffering of her victim.Her actions caused irreparable damage both to her victim and to the State of Israel.
Let us then address the disease in a constructive manner and not busy ourselves with the symptoms like gossip mongers.
Let us treat the patient with firm compassion rather than condemning her.
A total non sequitur. My argument is that the type of abuse portrayed here IS completely characteristic of an Occupation regime whose goal is to control & oppress the Palestinians. So of course the Occupation regime & the conditions in play are unique to Israel. To argue: “we’re OK cause we’re not doing anything worse than anybody else” is beyond contempt. The point isn’t to measure who’s the worst in the world & find that you’re better than them. The point is to be the best you can be on your own terms and if you can’t be much better than the worst, then your political system & society have something profoundly wrong at their core.
Ah yes, blame this on poor human nature but not the specific evils employed by the Israeli state in maintaining the Occupation. What nonsense!
Nonsense again. Shani Sivilia isn’t the problem per se. She’s only doing the job the Border Police trained her to do. Contrary to yr view, it is precisely the State of Israel which is at fault here, not the person who abuses in its name. Of course, she is personally responsible & should be punished for her foul deeds. But it is the system that sent her there & told her to do what she did.
Certainly, let’s understand the poor State of Israel & how it is really the victim & only does what is forced upon it by the big bad system. No one is at fault, right? Just human nature. Spare me.