Border Police who beat American-Arab teen Abu Khdeir sentenced to community service

Court reportedly gave sentence with no jail time because unnamed officer confessed and expressed regret.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Tariq Khedeir on his arrival at Tampa International Airport. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Tariq Khedeir on his arrival at Tampa International Airport.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
An unnamed Border Police officer on Wednesday was convicted by the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court of beating 15-year-old Palestinian-American Tariq Abu Khdeir on July 3, 2014 and sentenced to one-and-a-half months of community service, according to media reports.
No decision was sent out by the court spokesman and the police officers name is under gag order, but lawyers involved in the case provided the update.
The police officer had been suspended shortly after the incident, but with his name under gag order and the light sentence, there was speculation that he might keep his job.
According to reports, the court gave a sentence with no jail time because the officer confessed and expressed regret.
Initially, the state even discussed indicting Khdeir and assembled a range of allegations against him with a narrative suggesting both Khdeir and the policeman had acted wrongly.
Eventually, however, the state dropped all charges against Khdeir and only charged the policeman.
Khdeir is a cousin of infamously murdered and burned to death Palestinian teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir.
His arrest and beating set off huge international criticism especially since he was related to Muhammad.
The beating occurred while Khdeir was visiting the area with his family to mourn his murdered cousin’s death.
The video, which human rights groups circulated showed two Israeli police officers kicking and beating the high school student from Tampa, Florida.