Israeli soldiers tattoo Swastika, star of David, on Palestinian's forearm, cheek

Occupied Jerusalem: 2 June, 2002 (IAP News) - Palestinian officials on Sunday urged the international community to condemn Israeli occupation army's Nazi-like treatment of Palestinian civilians, saying Israeli humiliation of Palestinians transcended reality.

"Israel is doing to Palestinian civilians what the Gestapo and Hitler's youths did to the Jews in 1939 and 1944," said Palestinian Authority official Ahmed Abdul Rahman.

His remarks came after Israeli soldiers manning a roadblock north of Jerusalem arrested a Palestinian boy Saturday afternoon, beat him mercilessly before they tattooed the swastika symbol on his cheek and the Star of David symbols on his forearm.

The boy, Bakker Allan, a resident of the village of Beit Hanina al Tahta, north of Jerusalem, testified that five soldiers ganged up on him, beating him savagely, while driving his small truck, carrying cooking gas-canisters.

"They beat me in the face causing a bad bleeding from the nose, but they were laughing and continued to beat me," said the boy.

"They told me to raise my hands, which I did, and then they took me to a nearby hill where they continued to beat and kick me. While beating me, one of the soldiers took a box-cutter out of his pocket, and with the other soldiers holding my head, hands and legs, he started tattooing the swastika symbol on my right cheek and the star of David on my forearm."

Bakker said the soldiers kept him at the hill beating him intermittently, until he was able to escape after soldiers left the site to chase some Palestinians civilians who were bypassing the roadblock.

Bakker said he had no idea why the soldiers treated him in this way.