Israeli Deputy State Prosecuter, Shai Nitzan, has judged that the state will not take proceedings against Israeli military soldier, Eden Aberjil, over photographs posted on Aberjil’s Facebook page in which she poses next to handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainees. Shai Nitzan, Israel’s Deputy State Prosecutor, has decided against criminally prosecuting Eden Aberjil for the photos, in which she poses happily and proudly next to detained Palestinians.
The state official said that while the photos were shameful they were a matter for military disciplinary action. However since Aberjil was discharged from the IDF in 2009, Israeli military law no longer applies to her.
Reacting to the controversy Aberjil stated that “’The photos I posted in the album were part of my army experience. It was naïve. People took things out of proportion. I have respect for every human being. I served the State’.
Nitzan, however, advised that action be taken against two other Israeli soldiers involved in posing for videos and photo’s while mistreating Palestinian prisoners. In one case soldiers posed while one pointed his rifle at a detained prisoner. The other case involved a soldier dancing around a cuffed and blindfolded Palestinian woman in a video.
The videos were brought to light by Israeli human rights group Yesh-Din in 2010. They are part of a series of controversial videos and pictures as well as racist anti Palestinian and anti Arab posts uploaded onto the social networking site Facebook by Israeli police and military forces uncovered in recent months.
