Israeli Soldier Instagrams Palestinian Child in Crosshairs [PHOTO]: 20-Year-Old Sniper Mor Ostrovski Outrages World with Controversial Picture

An Israeli soldier in a sniper unit, Mor Ostrovski, decided to post a picture of a Palestinian boy's head in the crosshairs of a rifle on his Instagram account, understandably spurring outrage all over the Internet. The 20-year-old sniper has since deleted his whole Instagram account, but without any clarification as to why he posted such a controversial picture in the first place. He claims he did not take the picture himself and simply reposted it from the Internet.

The Israeli military has informed the media that the soldier's commanding officers are investigating the incident and that his actions "are not in accordance with the spirit of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] or its values." According to "Breaking the Silence," an organization of veteran combat soldiers crusading to spread knowledge about the West Bank life, "This is what occupation looks like. This is what military control over a civilian population looks like." This message condemning the photograph was found on a member's personal Facebook page.

A news website centered on Palestinian issues called Electronic Intifada has been all over this incident as well as many other outrageous Internet matters. Before Ostrovski deactivated his Instagram account, Electronic Intifada posted some choice selections from the collection including many pictures of the sniper posing with "heavy-duty guns." The website has called this picture "tasteless and dehumanizing." Electronic Intifada takes advantage of uncensored social media websites in order to exploit the offensive postings of Israeli soldiers. And it seems like there are plenty of chances for the website to share the true natures of Israeli soldiers.

One instance in December came from 22-year-old soldier Nisim Asis from the Beit-El settlement. He posted an image of himself licking "blood" (most likely ketchup) off of a knife with the caption, "F--- all Arabs their blood is tasty," on his Instagram. Another incident includes an infantry corps soldier posting a picture of himself beside a blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian on his Facebook account. He was sentenced to 14 days in military prison. Also, several years ago a female IDF soldier uploaded lewd photos of herself and Palestinian detainees. In all of these incidents, military discipline was deemed sufficient and the criminal investigations were dropped. Since the investigation of Mor Ostrovski and the picture he took is still underway, no word on disciplinary actions have been revealed. Hopefully, this soldier will be adequately punished for his outrageous actions.