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Police clash with locals in violent Jaffa disturbance
A protest which took place yesterday evening in Jaffa, in support of Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, turned violent as locals clashed with police.
The current spate of intense violence has taken place almost entirely in Jerusalem and the West Bank. However, local Arabs assembled in Jaffa’s main square waving Palestinian flags and chanted “In spirit and in blood, we will redeem al-Aqsa mosque,” in reference to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. Jaffa lies adjacent to Tel Aviv and is home to both Arab and Jewish Israelis. When police arrived on the scene, rocks were hurled at them and six officers were lightly wounded. Protestors also blocked traffic on a major street and hurled rocks at a bus and other vehicles.
Israeli police said that the protest had been organised by the extremist northern branch of the Islamic Movement. Although they had not granted a permit for the demonstration, police said they allowed it to proceed “in order to allow the right to protest.”
Opposition leader and Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog said that “riots in Jaffa are very serious … It’s another example of [Prime Minister] Netanyahu’s losing control and for the deterioration in personal safety.”
Clashes also continued elsewhere yesterday. Hundreds of Palestinians gathered at the Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah and hurled rocks and other projectiles at Israeli security forces who responded with riot-control equipment. Meanwhile, near the West Bank city of Nablus, an Israeli car was attacked with rocks, injuring an 18-year-old.
Also yesterday, in accordance with Monday’s security cabinet decision, Israel demolished the homes of two terrorists in Jerusalem as a deterrent to future would-be attackers. One had murdered five people in a Jerusalem synagogue last year, while the other had killed a man in a vehicle attack. Meanwhile, temporary restrictions placed on Palestinians entering Jerusalem’s Old City, in response to last week’s deadly violence, were lifted yesterday. Israel’s police confirmed that there are currently “no restrictions on entry of worshipers.”