Photo from Wikimedia Commons. A Palestinian who was bitten by a dog after throwing stones at Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldiers is now suing the Dutch dog breeder who supplied the dog to the IDF.
According to Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 19-year-old Hamze Abu Hashem was bitten by an IDF dog in 2014 as he was throwing stones at IDF soldiers. Abu Hashem is suing the Dutch dog breeding company Four Winds K9 for $13,500 in emotional damage he sustained from being bitten.
“My client bears serious scars that will remain with him for the rest of his life,” Liesbeth Zegveld, Abu Hashem’s Netherlands attorney, told a Dutch newspaper. “He is also deeply traumatized by the attack. He shakes when he hears dogs barking, he is too afraid to sleep and suffers from sleepwalking.”
Zegveld is also hoping for a Dutch court to prevent dogs from being sold to the IDF. Four Winds K9 defended itself by claiming that they’re not liable for what their dogs do once they’re given to the IDF.
The 2014 riot where the bite occurred stemmed from “a pre-approved ambush to catch firebomb throwers,” according to Haaretz. The IDF investigated the incident and concluded “that while the use of dogs in confrontations could be justified, in the case in question, the youth could have been arrested using other means.” Abu Hashem was jailed for three months following the incident for his stone-throwing.
Abu Hashem is not the first Palestinian to be bitten by an Israeli dog; in 2012 during a riot in which Palestinians threw stones at IDF soldiers a German shepherd bit Ahmad Satwi in the hand. The IDF eventually decided to only use dogs for ambushes.
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