March 16, 2012





An attack dog released on unarmed Palestinians by Israeli security forces sank its teeth into the arm of a Palestinian man and refused to release it for several minutes.

Soldiers released an attack dog on unarmed Palestinians at a Friday anti-occupation demonstration in the West Bank village of Kufr Qaddoum, report eyewitnesses that include an AP photographer. According to a report from Jonathan Pollack, a political activist, Border Police officers released an army dog at a group of protesters who were standing several dozen meters away. The dog chased the protesters, then locked his jaw on the arm of one of them � Ahmad Shtawi � sinking his teeth into the man�s arm. The dog refused for several minutes to respond to his handler�s order to release Mr. Shtawi�s arm.

Although he was bleeding, in pain and in need of medical attention, soldiers decided to arrest Mr. Shtawi after the dog finally released his arm. When Morad Shtawi, a member of the village�s popular committee, tried to reason with the commanding officer and convince him to release the wounded man, he was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and pepper sprayed � as documented in the video below.

Israeli human rights NGO B�Tselem has called several time for the Israeli army to stop using attack dogs on unarmed Palestinians. In February 2012 a 19 year-old Palestinian was attacked by an IDF dog; B�Tselem reported another five such incidents in 2011.