Anger over Israel soldier's prisoner Facebook images

Anger over Israel soldier's prisoner Facebook images

Palestinian groups said the images showed the Israeli occupation was "corrupting"

A former Israeli soldier has been sharply criticised for posting images of herself on Facebook posing next to Palestinian prisoners.

Eden Aberjil had put the images in an album on the site entitled "The army: the best days of my life".

Army officials have condemned her behaviour as "shameful" and said they would investigate the matter further.

Palestinian groups said the images were humiliating and revealed the "mentality of the occupier".

The controversial images were among 26 photographs Ms Aberjil posted on her Facebook page.

In one, she is shown smiling next to three bound and blindfolded prisoners and in the second, she is sitting with her face turned towards a prisoner.

Ms Aberjil had already been discharged from the army having completed her mandatory military service, and it was unclear whether she could face disciplinary action.

But a military spokesman said all the details had been passed to her commanders for "further attention".

"This is shameful behaviour by the soldier," the spokesman said in a statement.

Palestinians are routinely blindfolded and handcuffed when arrested by Israeli troops, to prevent them trying to escape.

While the photographs do not depict overt abuse, the Palestinian Authority said they did show "the mentality of the occupier to be proud of humiliating Palestinians".

"The occupation is unjust, immoral and, as these pictures show, corrupting," said spokesman Ghassan Khatib.

Yishai Menuchim, head of the Israeli Committee Against Torture, also criticised the images, saying the incident "reflects an attitude which has become the norm and consists in treating Palestinians like objects, not like human beings".

Last month, six Israeli soldiers were widely criticised for posting a video of themselves performing a dance routine while on duty in the West Bank town of Hebron.

The soldiers escaped disciplinary action after the army said no harm had been done.

http://www.bbc.co.uk / Bulgaria Today