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| Patrolling a Disputed Line, Israeli Border Police Become a Focus of Anger | Patrolling a Disputed Line, Israeli Border Police Become a Focus of Anger |
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| JERUSALEM — As Chief Superintendent Aviad Ketafi of Israel’s border police steered his sport utility vehicle through the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur on Monday afternoon, Palestinian youths pelted it with stones. The barrage bounced off the vehicle’s special plastic windows and the metal grating covering its windshield. | JERUSALEM — As Chief Superintendent Aviad Ketafi of Israel’s border police steered his sport utility vehicle through the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur on Monday afternoon, Palestinian youths pelted it with stones. The barrage bounced off the vehicle’s special plastic windows and the metal grating covering its windshield. |
| That is a routine event for members of the force charged with the challenging task of policing a border that is contested and has never been internationally recognized. | That is a routine event for members of the force charged with the challenging task of policing a border that is contested and has never been internationally recognized. |
| “You can see there’s no border,” Chief Superintendent Ketafi had said as he toured the city’s hot spots earlier. “It’s one breathing city, and that’s exactly the complexity of giving a solution.” | “You can see there’s no border,” Chief Superintendent Ketafi had said as he toured the city’s hot spots earlier. “It’s one breathing city, and that’s exactly the complexity of giving a solution.” |
| The border police, whose green berets are a nod to the Green Line that demarcated Israeli territory from its hostile neighbors in 1949 armistice agreements, serve in the most delicate situations. They are leading a new crackdown on Arab areas of Jerusalem after a spate of terror attacks. They regularly staff checkpoints, contain riots and carry out arrest raids in the occupied West Bank. | |
| That has put the force at the center of rising concern over what critics see as Israel’s heavy-handed security presence. Though a border police spokesman said complaints against the force had dropped 30 percent over the past decade, its officers stand accused of misconduct in several episodes this year that were captured on video and broadcast around the world. | |
| One officer, identified this week as 21-year-old Ben Deri, faces manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of a Palestinian teenager at a May demonstration; he is said to have surreptitiously used live ammunition rather than the prescribed rubber bullets. Another, who has not been publicly identified, was indicted on a charge of assault after beating a handcuffed American cousin of an East Jerusalem 16-year-old abducted and murdered in July. | One officer, identified this week as 21-year-old Ben Deri, faces manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of a Palestinian teenager at a May demonstration; he is said to have surreptitiously used live ammunition rather than the prescribed rubber bullets. Another, who has not been publicly identified, was indicted on a charge of assault after beating a handcuffed American cousin of an East Jerusalem 16-year-old abducted and murdered in July. |
| And last week, a man in the signature green uniform grabbed and shoved a senior Palestinian official at a protest shortly before the official died of a heart attack in what the Palestine Liberation Organization has denounced as an Israeli “assassination.” | And last week, a man in the signature green uniform grabbed and shoved a senior Palestinian official at a protest shortly before the official died of a heart attack in what the Palestine Liberation Organization has denounced as an Israeli “assassination.” |
| “It’s like a mafia,” said Abdallah Abu Rahmeh, a veteran activist in the West Bank village of Bilin who said he had been beaten with batons and shot at “many times” by border police officers. “They don’t respect the rules, they don’t respect human rights, they don’t respect international law, they don’t respect everything.” | “It’s like a mafia,” said Abdallah Abu Rahmeh, a veteran activist in the West Bank village of Bilin who said he had been beaten with batons and shot at “many times” by border police officers. “They don’t respect the rules, they don’t respect human rights, they don’t respect international law, they don’t respect everything.” |
| Since the force’s creation in 1953, five years after Israel’s establishment, the role of the border police has grown more complicated through decades of conflict with the Palestinians. A spokesman, Superintendent Shai Hakimi, said of the videotaped beating, “nothing justifies the punching of a 15-year-old,” but that such episodes were anomalous. | |
| “The places that these fighters are placed are the most explosive, sensitive and complex in the state, with a daily, immediate threat to their lives,” he said. “And despite all this, the number of these negative events are still a very, very small percentage.” | “The places that these fighters are placed are the most explosive, sensitive and complex in the state, with a daily, immediate threat to their lives,” he said. “And despite all this, the number of these negative events are still a very, very small percentage.” |
| The 8,000-member force, known by its Hebrew acronym, Magav, is divided about equally between career officers and young people fulfilling compulsory military service. Officially part of the Israel national police, officers stationed in the West Bank operate under army command, another oddity of the longstanding occupation. Trained in police and military tactics, they carry 9-millimeter pistols and M-16 rifles like soldiers, but also use pepper spray and stun grenades. | |
| Near the Qalandiya checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday afternoon, six border police officers wore black ski masks. Some took cover behind their armored-vehicle doors amid intense shooting from a nearby funeral, and they later chased away stone-throwers. | Near the Qalandiya checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday afternoon, six border police officers wore black ski masks. Some took cover behind their armored-vehicle doors amid intense shooting from a nearby funeral, and they later chased away stone-throwers. |
| “I know the image, but you have to look at the reality: They are confronting a very, very tough and complicated situation, and they are very professional,” said David Tsur, who headed Magav from 2002 to 2004 and is now a centrist member of Parliament. “In my political perspective, we should solve the strategic problem and not look at these tactical issues. We need to reduce the checkpoints, we need to reduce the tension. Until we do that, we will try to fix the individual who is getting out of control.” | “I know the image, but you have to look at the reality: They are confronting a very, very tough and complicated situation, and they are very professional,” said David Tsur, who headed Magav from 2002 to 2004 and is now a centrist member of Parliament. “In my political perspective, we should solve the strategic problem and not look at these tactical issues. We need to reduce the checkpoints, we need to reduce the tension. Until we do that, we will try to fix the individual who is getting out of control.” |
| Magav was the first to offer combat roles to women, in 1995, and was deeply involved in Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 as well as home-front defense during the 2006 Lebanon war. More than 400 border police officers have died in the line of duty, most recently Chief Inspector Jaddan Assad, 38, who was killed Nov. 5 when a Palestinian plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a Jerusalem light-rail station. | Magav was the first to offer combat roles to women, in 1995, and was deeply involved in Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 as well as home-front defense during the 2006 Lebanon war. More than 400 border police officers have died in the line of duty, most recently Chief Inspector Jaddan Assad, 38, who was killed Nov. 5 when a Palestinian plowed his car into a crowd of pedestrians at a Jerusalem light-rail station. |
| Admission is competitive — Superintendent Hakimi said six youths vied for each available slot in the latest draft — and the force has long attracted Israel’s non-Jewish minorities, Jews of Middle Eastern background and new immigrants. Druse, less than 2 percent of the population, make up 10 percent of the troops. | Admission is competitive — Superintendent Hakimi said six youths vied for each available slot in the latest draft — and the force has long attracted Israel’s non-Jewish minorities, Jews of Middle Eastern background and new immigrants. Druse, less than 2 percent of the population, make up 10 percent of the troops. |
| Sociologists say that Magav provides important opportunities for these groups, but also that the demographic makeup helps drive its aggressiveness. | Sociologists say that Magav provides important opportunities for these groups, but also that the demographic makeup helps drive its aggressiveness. |
| “They have to prove themselves as loyal citizens to Israeli society,” said Yigal Levy, a professor at the Open University who studies military culture. “These people were educated to hate Arabs; this is the spirit in many of the development towns from which these people came,” he added. “In Magav, they have the opportunity to conflate this hatred into action.” | “They have to prove themselves as loyal citizens to Israeli society,” said Yigal Levy, a professor at the Open University who studies military culture. “These people were educated to hate Arabs; this is the spirit in many of the development towns from which these people came,” he added. “In Magav, they have the opportunity to conflate this hatred into action.” |
| B’tselem, an Israeli human-rights organization, said that since the start of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, in 2000, it had filed 55 complaints against border police officers for killing civilians, 58 for episodes in which people were wounded, and 177 for other misconduct. In these cases, according to the group, there have been five convictions, 11 indictments, and 17 other criminal investigations opened. | |
| In November, Jerusalem’s Foreign Press Association issued a statement complaining of four “attacks” against journalists in a week by border police officers, one with rubber bullets shot at close range. | In November, Jerusalem’s Foreign Press Association issued a statement complaining of four “attacks” against journalists in a week by border police officers, one with rubber bullets shot at close range. |
| But Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for B’tselem who was shot by a Magav rubber bullet at a protest last year, said the officers were often “much more professional and calm” than army soldiers “because they’re so used to these kind of confrontations.” | But Sarit Michaeli, a spokeswoman for B’tselem who was shot by a Magav rubber bullet at a protest last year, said the officers were often “much more professional and calm” than army soldiers “because they’re so used to these kind of confrontations.” |
| Since the end of October, about 1,000 additional border police officers have been deployed in East Jerusalem, more than doubling Magav’s presence, in what it calls Operation Guardians of the Walls. On a dirt lot at the entrance to the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya, near a gas station that was vandalized this summer, there is now a police tent, lookout point, and a dozen officers stopping cars to check identification and search trunks. Another 35 patrol the neighborhood’s streets. | Since the end of October, about 1,000 additional border police officers have been deployed in East Jerusalem, more than doubling Magav’s presence, in what it calls Operation Guardians of the Walls. On a dirt lot at the entrance to the Palestinian neighborhood of Issawiya, near a gas station that was vandalized this summer, there is now a police tent, lookout point, and a dozen officers stopping cars to check identification and search trunks. Another 35 patrol the neighborhood’s streets. |
| “This village was a center of protests and riots; they were throwing firebombs and firecrackers,” said Superintendent Ketafi, whose 80-person unit was among those brought in. “If you look now, the village is quiet. A lot of forces who came here have created a new reality.” | “This village was a center of protests and riots; they were throwing firebombs and firecrackers,” said Superintendent Ketafi, whose 80-person unit was among those brought in. “If you look now, the village is quiet. A lot of forces who came here have created a new reality.” |
| Mohammed Abu Houmus, a father of four in Issawiya, said the new checkpoint had led him to leave his car at home, walking out of the neighborhood instead to catch a cab. | Mohammed Abu Houmus, a father of four in Issawiya, said the new checkpoint had led him to leave his car at home, walking out of the neighborhood instead to catch a cab. |
| “People feel afraid,” he said, citing a woman who was recently ticketed for a problem with a tire. “You see, they stop the Arabs; they don’t stop the Jews.” | “People feel afraid,” he said, citing a woman who was recently ticketed for a problem with a tire. “You see, they stop the Arabs; they don’t stop the Jews.” |