Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Beaten Palestinian-American Teen Returns Home to Hero’s Welcome in Florida

The Palestinian-American teen beaten by Israeli soldiers in an attack caught on video returned home to Florida after being released on bail and held under house arrest.

Tariq Abu Khdeir, 15, and his mother arrived in Tampa late on Wednesday night, where they reportedly were greeted by about 50 family members and supporters.

“I am only 15 but I will never think of freedom the same as I did two months ago,” he said at the airport, according to the Associated Press. “No child, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to die.”

He reportedly said he was ready to play with his friends and go fishing.

Khdeir is a cousin of the Palestinian teen murdered July 2 in a killing blamed on Jewish extremists avenging the murders of three Jewish teens. He was on a summer vacation visiting family in eastern Jerusalem when the cousin’s murder occurred. He was one of six eastern Jerusalem teens arrested at a demonstration following the funeral.

In a video that garnered widespread attention internationally, a masked teen identified as Tariq is shown being pinned down by an Israeli border policeman while another office pummels him with his feet and kicks his head. Tariq is seen in photographs after his arrest with a bloody face, black eyes and a severely swollen lip.

The officer, who has not been named, was suspended for at least 15 days pending a hearing on whether charges will be brought, a statement from Israel’s Justice Ministry said last week.

Following a probe of the July 3 arrest of Khdeir, the ministry said that “apparent evidence was found supporting the guilt of the police officer suspected of severe violent crimes, committed after the arrest of the minor, and while the minor was handcuffed.”

The U.S. State Department at the time said that the U.S. was “profoundly troubled” by the beating and called for “a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force.”

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.