Murder for fun and "morale": Shocking video of lethal Israeli attack on sleeping Palestinian prisoners

Ali Abunimah

May 17, 2012 English explanation follows at bottom of video The camera follows heavily armed Israeli security personnel raiding a prison dormitory, shouting at the prisoners to get out of bed, and that they would be shot if they didn’t obey orders. The prisoners can be heard screaming in terror at the surprise attack. It was a night of brutal and lethal violence that Israeli participants would describe as one that was "beautiful" and "happy." One of the Israeli attackers shouts, amid flashes, flame and smoke: "I want to open these gates and take care of these little sons of whores." Other Israelis shout vulgar Arabic insults at the prisoners regarding their mothers. Prisoners writhe in agony and fear. One can be seen – in images reminiscent of Abu Ghraib – lying on the ground as an Israeli points a gun at him shouting "lie on your stomach!" Others are shot without apparent reason. These are scenes from a video that was shown in April 2011 by the investigative program Ovda on Israel’s Channel 2 television station. The violent attack it records against the Palestinian prisoners on 22 October 2007 was real, but it was carried out as a "training exercise" for Israeli security personnel at Ketziot Prison to boost their "morale" and "motivation." One Palestinian, Muhammad Ashqar, was killed. No one has been charged in connection with his death although Israel recently agreed to pay compensation to his family. This video, Ovda said, is one "the whole system" has been trying to keep under wraps for more than three years. The deputy commander of the Israel Prison Service would rate his men’s performance in this horrifying and murderous violence with a "ten." This shocking video and the events around it provide a rare glimpse into the lives of thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s jails, more than 2,000 of whom recently completed a 28-day hunger strike against the cruel and inhumane treatment they receive. Raising "morale" and "motivation" Control of Ketziot Prison in the southern Naqab (Negev) region of historic Palestine was handed to the Israel Prison Service (IPS) from the Israeli army in 2007. The IPS then promised to toughen its handling of the prisoners, according to the Ovda narrator. According to Addameer, Ketziot, also known as Ansar or Negev Prison, is a primary detention place for Palestinians held in "administrative detention" without charge or trial. One of the goals of the 2:00 am "training drill" shown in this video was to "raise the morale and motivation for the prison staff," according to Ovda, citing IPS documents. The video is captioned "Massada Unit Training - archive," which is described as "the most combative unit in the prison service." The "training" task given to the unit was to search for contraband in one of the prison’s wings. The use of Palestinians – not just prisoners – as training guinea pigs for Israeli violence did not end with this incident. On 27 March, Rashad Shawakha, 28, was killed in cold blood in an attack on the West Bank village of Rammoun that was part of a "traning exercise" by an Israeli undercover unit. A declaration of war Palestinian prisoners during the Israeli attack at Ketziot Prison But as far "as the prisoners are concerned," the narrator says, "the surprise incursion by masked fighters into the prison has only one meaning – a declaration of war." The prisoners however are "stunned," and resistance is "insignificant." Meanwhile a voice is heard on the video of one of the Israeli personnel saying "the shooting is correct" (3:28) meaning that the shooting we hear in the background is authorized. "This is not live fire," the narrator says, meaning regular bullets are not being used, "but these demonstration-dispersing measures could also kill." But of course there was no demonstration to be dispersed. The prisoners had been asleep – in barred dormitories and in tents on the heavily-fortified prison’s grounds – when they were attacked with weapons that Israel authorities refuse to identify. And presumably the prisoners did not know it wasn’t live fire and that they weren’t about to be killed. And the weapons used did kill on that night. As things got out of hand, two commanders sent the Massada Unit fighters to storm the other wings of the prison. At one point, an Israeli officer can be seen and heard speaking into a microphone as he faces the burning prison enclosure. He shouts in broken Arabic, "to all the prisoners, for the last time, whoever comes out and lies down on his stomach, we will not shoot him" (7:23). "This is the last time before we shoot at everyone," he says (7:50). The attackers, the narrator notes, shot with abandon despite the darkness. An unknown weapon To finish reading & more video clips, go to Source