Facebook pictures of ex-Israeli soldier raises storm
Pictures of a woman Israeli soldier posing next to blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian prisoners, posted on Facebook, have stirred a storm in Israel, with independent groups condemning them as "inhuman". The photographs uploaded by Eden Abergil, a former soldier with Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) from the southern city of Ashdod, show her smiling next to elderly Palestinian prisoners with their hands bound and their eyes covered. The pictures have prompted the IDF to denounce the behaviour of the soldier as "shameless". The pictures titled, 'IDF – the best time of my life,' that were posted at the popular social networking site, left many people shocked and some even amused. "You're super sexy here," one of her friends wrote. Eden responded, "Yeah I know, ha ha, what a day that was, see how he completes my picture, I wonder if he's on Facebook! I have to tag him in the photo! Ha ha". The pictures have since been removed from the site, but not before being duplicated across the web by a variety of bloggers and news sites. When Israeli blogger Lisa Goldman contacted the former soldier via Facebook, she replied, "I don't speak to leftists". "This is shameless behaviour by the soldier," a statement released by the IDF said. "In light of the fact that she was discharged last year, all of the details have been turned over to commanders for further attention," it added. Yishai Menuchin, the director of the Public Committee Against Torture, an NGO, condemned the soldiers actions as "inhuman". "The horrible pictures demonstrate a norm of treating Palestinians like objects instead of human beings – treatment that disregards their feelings as humans and their right to privacy," Menuchin said. "The soldier would go crazy if photographs of her in humiliating circumstances had been posted on the Internet without her permission," he said. He called upon IDF commanders to issue orders to prevent this kind of humiliating behaviour. "At times the responsibility of the IDF commanding officer requires, for security reasons, the binding of detainees and the preserving of the captives' dignity, welfare and health," Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, Lawmaker Otniel Schneller, said. He said the pictures posted on Facebook are a blow to values, which humiliates the detainee as well as the soldier. Schneller called upon for revoking the ranks of the reserve officer and said all the soldiers and officers must understand that the IDF's strength lies not only in weapons and training, but in its morals and values which distinguishes it from other armies in the world.
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