Soldiers Filmed Beating a Student from An-Najah University at a Checkpoint

An IDF soldier was seen first beating and then shooting out of control at a Palestinian student at a roadblock north of Nablus on Sunday, inflicting wounds that sent Mohammed Canaan, 26, a student at A-Najah University in Nablus, to hospital.

A volunteer from Machsom Watch, the volunteer group of Israei women who attend checkpoints to watch out for abuse, witnessed the beating and took photographs of the victim.

Canaan was trying to leave the city for his home near Jenin, to the north, but the soldier at the checkpoint refused to let him pass.

“I asked to see an officer and the soldier attacked me,” Canaan said from his hospital bed yesterday. “He cursed my mother and father and punched me, so I punched him back. Then he aimed his rifle at my chest and threatened to kill me. Other soldiers took away his gun and tried to subdue him.” Canaan tried to get away in the melee, but the soldier grabbed another gun and shot him in the arm. He suffered moderate injuries.

IDF officials confirmed the report, and called the incident serious. Military police have arrested the soldier. Naomi Lalo, an activist with Machsom Watch, witnessed the entire incident, with the group’s volunteers filming the scene.

Canaan was recuperating in a Nablus hospital last night, an accidental hero for the Palestinians and an embarassment to Israel.