Photo of Palestinian men protecting Israeli policewoman goes viral

[azurnoir]

A picture of two Palestinian men shielding an Israeli policewoman from rocks being thrown by Israeli settlers has gone viral.

The photo - taken by Shaul Golan, a photographer for Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper - showed the three standing at Esh Kodesh, an outpost on the West Bank, considered by the United Nations to be part of the occupied territory.

The two Palestinian men stepped in to protect the frightened policewoman after clashes broke out between anti-occupation activists and what Israeli media have described as right-wing settlers. The incident – which saw the two sides throwing rocks at each other - happened near the settlement of Aish Kodesh and the Palestinian village of Kusra.

"Amid all the chaos, I saw this female officer," Golan told the Times of Israel. "She was really scared. She was abandoned in the field and her so-called enemies were guarding her. I knew right away it was a special moment."

One of the men sheltering the Israeli officer was Zakaria Sadah, a Palestinian field worker for Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR), an Israeli human rights organization that works in the area.

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/20294-photo-of-palestinian-men-protecting-israeli-policewoman-goes-viral

[shira]

1. THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO

Rabbis for Human Rights is reporting this quite differently.

http://rhr.org.il/eng/2015/08/the-context-behind-the-photo/

This photo was taken when settlers had been attempting to prevent Palestinians of the village Kusra from working their agricultural lands. A settler accused a Palestinian of throwing stones, and the police attempted to make arrests of Palestinians and began using a taser gun. The Palestinians began throwing stones and the female officer froze and remained crying between the two sides after the Israeli security forces had moved. Believing she was in danger, another Israeli officer prepared to shoot at Palestinians. Zakaria shouted “don’t shoot” and he and the mayor of Kusra escorted the policewoman back to the other Israeli security forces.

The bottom line is that, while settlers are calling this an intentional publicity stunt, and some Palestinians are angry with Zakaria and the Kusra mayor for having helped an Israeli policewoman (the residents of Kusra and the hundreds of additional Palestinians he has helped are not angry with him), the fact is that Zakaria may very well have saved Palestinian lives, as another police officer was preparing to shoot.

[azurnoir]

2. So tyhe settlers were abusing Palestinians the settlers lied and tased Palestinians

all in all they did protect the police woman

[6chars]

3. good for them for keeping cool heads