Border Police officers arrived yesterday (Tuesday) at the hilltop communities of Ramat Migron and Oz Zion in Binyamin and evacuated the residents. Six residents were arrested during the evacuation and released late at night under restrictive conditions.
Neria Zarog, a resident of nearby Geva and a father of four, came to protest against the eviction of the families, and he claims he suffered severe violence from the Border Police officer who was in command. Zarog has been involved in altercations with police in the past.
"I came to protest against the harassment of the residents, and suddenly policemen jumped on me and three other people and dragged us to the jeep. The second there were no cameras around, he slammed me onto the floor of the jeep and simply started breaking me apart with his fists," Zerog said, describing the violence he experienced. "He put boxing gloves on his hands and punched me in the eye and temple one after another."
"It was just shameful and also humiliating on other levels," he shares, "Later at the police station, Officer Almakais boasted to his subordinates and pointed at me, 'Nice job - did you see how he cried in the Jeep?'" Zarog said.
During the night Zarog suffered from severe pain, and in the morning he was referred for medical treatment with swelling in one of his eyes and many bruises on his left ribs.
At the beginning of the week, another police officer was recorded in Oz Zion firmly pulling the nose of one of the residents who cringed in pain and asked him to stop. The recording was widely distributed on the Internet and drew strong reactions from members of the Knesset and public figures.