Israeli police clampdown on protests in Arab towns

Clashes broke out in a number of Arab Israeli towns on Saturday evening in the aftermath of the revenge killing of an Arab boy by Jewish settlers last Wednesday, Arabs 48 website has reported. Protesters voiced their anger at the incitement campaign to kill Arabs, as well as the recent brutal murder of Mohammed Abu Khudair in occupied East Jerusalem.

In Nazareth, police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse protesters. At least 3 were reported to have been injured in the clashes.

In Kafr Qasim, mosques called on citizens to confront a group of Israeli settlers who stormed into the town on Saturday, while Tira saw sporadic clashes between protesters and police. In the village of Ain Mahil, meanwhile, police arrested four protesters accused of hurling rocks at riot police; two young men were arrested in Nazareth on similar charges. In Kafr Qara, witnesses told Arabs 48 that police withdrew after arresting five males, four of whom are minors.

The city of Umm Al-Fahm witnessed renewed confrontations with police and special units, after a number of young men gathered to protest. Although police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators no injuries have been reported. One young man was arrested at the entrance to the city. Two more were detained by police in Baqa Al-Gharbiyye on charges of hurling rocks at a police vehicle.

Earlier on Saturday, clashes broke out in Nazareth between police and demonstrators at a march against the brutality of the occupation authority’s current campaign against Palestinians. The protest was planned initially to be a static gathering in Sahat al-Ain, but the large turnout led organisers to turn it into a march, which resulted in clashes as police tried to disperse participants.

“The high turnout by Nazareth youth represents an angry outcry against Israeli actions and the ruthless practices of settlers,” said Wasel Taha, chairman of the Democratic National Assembly. He added that the reaction of the youth was “a natural response to provocations by settlers”. He denounced the attacks on Arab cities and villages as “heinous crimes”.

“As long as provocations continue, the anger will remain and the escalation will mount, because we and the Palestinian people are one,” insisted Taha. “We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for what’s happening.”

Arab Member of the Knesset Haneen Zoabi, who took part in the Nazareth march, said that Saturday’s wave of anger came “to confront the bloody incitement campaign directed at our people” as a “direct result of Israeli policies and repressive practices” against the Palestinian people. “We have to stress that we are one nation, and that all of us are struggling for one cause, namely the cause of our occupied Palestine,” she said.