Jerusalem's Hatulot Square
Photo: Noam (Dabul) Dvir
Border Guard officers recorded chanting 'Muhammad is dead' in Jerusalem
Officers stationed in capital’s HaHatulot Square to prevent attacks against minorities, are recorded chanting racist epithets against Islam's prophet. After investigation officers caught and sentenced to 35 days jail time
Border Guard officers stationed in the center of a popular Jerusalem neighborhood to stop attacks against minorities, were recorded calling out racist epithets against the prophet Muhammad. The story was publicized for the first time on Monday in "Mynet Jerusalem" by reporter Moshe Heller.
HaHatulot Square is known as a place for Friday night leisure activities, and hundreds of young people pass through it each week. Just six months ago, the square was the location of an attack against a young Arab, who was viciously beaten to within an inch of his life by a group of Jewish youth.
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Today, Border Guard officers are stationed in the square to guard against violence directed at minority youth by groups of young Jewish revelers. Except that a witness passing through the square over the weekend noticed a group of soldiers who were doing the exact opposite of their jobs.
"A little after 1 am I passed by and saw a group of Border Guard officers laughing, dancing and singing," the witness said. "Even though they are supposed to secure the area, it seemed they were doing everything besides their jobs. To my amazement, I also heard them singing, ‘Muhammad is dead.’ So I decided to record it in with my phone.”
After this, the witness approached one of the soldiers, "You are in uniform, why do you sing these things? It could start riots." The witness said.
"You are not my boss," the soldier replied.
After the complaint was filed with the Border Guard, an investigation was launched, at the end of which the soldiers were tried and sentenced to jail time, in an attempt to take a strong stand against racism.
A Border Guard spokesperson said, "The Border Guard views the behavior of the soldiers severely, it is not in line with the spirit of the organization or the values upon which the unit is based. According to the directives of the Border Guard, the event was investigated, and each of the soldiers was sentenced to 35 days in jail ."
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