Druze soldier suffering from PTSD after racist bullying, abuse on base

Serviceman says his comrades mocked him, trashed his room and called him a ‘terrorist’; when he complained, his commander said, ‘Get out, Arab’

A Druze soldier, who says he was the victim of racist bullying and abuse by his fellow soldiers at the Israeli Air Force base where he serves, is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The soldier, who was identified only by the Hebrew initial Mem, recounted the abuse in an interview with the Kan public broadcaster.

The Monday report described Mem, who has a speech impediment, as “quiet and introverted.”

Mem said that the soldiers he serves with intentionally excluded him, and regularly mocked him by calling him a “terrorist, a dog, an Arab or a Palestinian.”

Mem said his comrades would not allow him to eat with them or to enter their rooms. At one point, he said they barred him from entering the mess room unless he cleaned all of their bathrooms. Mem said he didn’t eat for three days.

The soldiers would throw rocks at his window when he slept at night, turn off the water in the bathroom while he was showering, and even broke into his room once and trashed it, Mem alleged.

Druze IAF soldier ‘Mem,’ says he was a victim of racist abuse and bullying on base (screen capture: Kan)

On one occasion, he said some of the soldiers hid his gun, and stood around laughing and filming him as he searched for it.

Mem said that female soldiers also tormented him, and warned him that if he ever reported the abuse, they would tell higher-ups that he sexually assaulted them.

According to Mem, when he went to his commander to report his mistreatment at the hands of other soldiers, the commander said, “Get out of here, Arab, I’m busy right now.”

The abuse came to an end when Mem’s mother overheard a group of female soldiers laughing and mocking him over the phone. Mem said his mother ordered him to come home immediately, and has not allowed him to return to the army since.

When she complained to her son’s commanders about the abuse, Mem’s mother said she was rebuffed, with one telling her: “Your son is crazy. Maybe you should take him to a psychiatric ward.”

“I’m afraid to let my son return to the army. If this is how he talks to me, how is he treating my son on base?” Mem’s mother told Kan.

According to the report, a psychiatrist who evaluated Mem said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the months of bullying and abuse.

In a statement to Kan, the IDF admitted that Mem had been the victim of abuse, and said the soldiers responsible had been reprimanded. The army said that one of the soldiers was sentenced to 21 days of on-base confinement as punishment, and that others were made to apologize to Mem.