Report: Israeli police deliberately provoke Palestinians

Israeli police deliberately initiate “friction activity” with Palestinians living in occupied Jerusalem in order to provoke angry responses, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported a report saying yesterday.

The report referred to “friction” in the Al-Issawiyeh neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem where a 12-year-old Palestinian boy had been shot in the head and put in a coma.

According to the report, clashes erupted between the Palestinians and Israeli border guards on 6 January after the guards entered Al-Issawiyeh. During the clashes, Ahmed Abu Humus was shot in the head and spent three weeks in hospital. Ahmed lost his memory as a result of the incident.

The boy’s family filed a complaint with the police but about two months ago the police said the file had been closed due to “a lack of evidence”.

Last week, the complete file was handed over to an Israeli lawyer and it included reports about the Israeli police who took part in the clashes. According to Haaretz, almost all the reports revealed that the police “initiated the friction” with the Palestinians.

A policeman said: “During the afternoon shift we launched an activity in Issawiyah to create friction with the residents.”

“Two other policemen said that they ‘were asked to come to the Menta gas station in Issawiyah for a friction activity in the village’. And that they were briefed before getting started,” the file said.

Israeli police denied the claims saying these “were not deliberate provocative acts” but they were “concentrated acts targeting suspects” who might have taken part in previous violence or regarding whom the police had received intelligence information.