Numerous videos and photographs taken on Sunday in Jerusalem appear to show offenses committed by Flag March participants against Palestinians along the route of the march and in areas adjacent to the Old City. The police say more than 60 people were arrested and detained in the city that day, the large majority of them Palestinian. Only two of the people arrested were Jews.
In the videos one sees Jews and Palestinians committing assaults, acts of vandalism and theft, shouting racist chants and incitement, using pepper spray and throwing rocks. In a statement issued by the police at the end of Jerusalem Day, District Commander Doron Turgeman said: “I wish to express great admiration for our commanders and police officers who operated in all the sectors to maintain security and law and order.”
The videos and photos posted on social media paint a different picture – one in which Jewish rioters acted with near-total impunity for many hours in several parts of the capital. Some of the alleged offenses were committed by people who did not conceal their identity and in the proximity of police officers who only moved the rioters away but did not arrest them. The two Jews who were arrested are suspected of involvement in the assault on Iyad Harab, a journalist for public broadcaster KAN’s Arabic service.
Here are some of the other incidents recorded in the videos:
Vandalism and rock-throwing in Sheikh Jarrah
Groups of Jewish youths who had gathered in the morning in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah assaulted Palestinian residents with rocks and vandalized vehicles and property in a number of separate incidents. The testimony of neighborhood residents and video footage indicate that the police who were there refrained from using force against the youths or arresting them. In some of the videos, the police are seen intervening and distancing the rioters from the place.
In several of the incidents, Palestinian youths responded by throwing rocks at the Jews. In those cases, the police cracked down and used stun grenades and batons to disperse the Palestinians. In one incident, two brothers, Ramadan and Ahmed Sau, were arrested on suspicion of throwing rocks. Their lawyer, Nasser Odeh, presented videos in court showing Jewish youths throwing rocks while police officers stood near them and did not intervene. Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court Judge Bialin (Benny) Elazar Bialin rejected the claim of discriminatory enforcement.
“I am aware of the claims that a group of Jews that was present at the scene and threw rocks at the defendant and his home was not subjected to any arrests. The police investigation division will assuredly review this matter and hold the rock-throwers from the other side fully accountable too,” the judge wrote in his ruling on extending the remand of one of the brothers. Their father, Mahmoud Sau, says, “They had a green light from the police. That’s what we saw.”
Assault of journalist Iyad Harab
KAN reporter Iyad Harab was attacked Sunday night in Sheikh Jarrah after covering the march. The assailants – there were apparently three of them – beat him with sticks, sprayed him with tear gas, broke his glasses and stole his phone. He was taken for medical treatment following the attack.
Harab says that while the attack was taking place, several Border Police officers were standing about 10 meters away and did not intervene. “They attacked me and I screamed because of the gas. They beat me with sticks. There is no way they didn’t hear it,” he says, adding that he intends to lodge a complaint with the police investigations division. He says that police officers only arrived after the assailants left.
Two suspects in the attack, Amitzur Ben-Yosef and Binyamin Ben-Zimra, were arrested by the police that same evening after Harab identified them. Another hearing in the case is expected to be held today.
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Assaults on Palestinian drivers
On Sunday night dozens of youths gathered near Route 1. In one incident, a Palestinian driver who got out of his car was attacked, with 20 youths surrounding him and kicking him as he lay on the ground. A Jewish passerby came to his aid. No arrests were made in this incident.
In another incident that occurred not far from there, in Sheikh Jarrah, a Jew attacked a Palestinian with a flagpole. Several police officers were there but the assailant was not arrested.
Clashes and assaults at Damascus Gate
In several instances, young Jews assaulted Palestinians with pepper spray. In one video, a youth is seen pepper spraying stretcher-bearers who are carrying a wounded Palestinian at Damascus Gate.
In the Old City, violent clashes erupted between march participants and Palestinians. In one incident captured by Haaretz photographer Ohad Zwigenberg, a Jewish youth can be seen kneeing an older Palestinian woman named Aida Sidawi who approached a group of marchers while calling out “Allahu Akbar.” Another young man pepper sprayed the woman and she required medical care.
Snatching a phone from the hands of a Palestinian photographer
In one video, a youth participating in the march is seen grabbing the phone out of the hands of Palestinian journalist Maisa Abu Rajal, while his friends urge him on. A complaint was lodged with the police, but it appears that no investigation of the matter has been opened.
Another journalist who was standing next to Abu Rajal says that this incident was just one of many in which youths tried to grab the phones from journalists who were covering the march. She says that police officers who were standing nearby were informed, but nothing was done. The youth was identified, and the phone was returned to Abu Rajal a few days later. The SIM card in it had been stolen.
Rock-throwing at Mount Zion parking lot
In the hours after the Flag March, several dozen Jewish youths arrived at the parking lot between Mount Zion and Silwan. For many minutes, they threw rocks at buildings and caused damage to cars without hindrance, and then left the area. No one was arrested.
Songs of incitement and racist chants
Dozens of videos show groups of young participants in the Flag March shouting things that might be considered incitement to violence or incitement to racism. In many of the videos, the song “Zochreini Na,” a song of revenge based on a biblical verse, is heard, with the words changed to call for “revenge on Palestine.”
In other cases, more extreme songs are heard, with lyrics like “let their village burn” and “Shoafat is going up in flames” (in a song that alludes to the murder of teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir), “Death to Arabs” and more in that vein. In many cases, the songs were chanted in the presence of police officers, who did not arrest or detain anyone involved. Unlike in previous years, this year it appears that the march organizers did not try to prevent the youths from singing the songs of incitement.
The Israel Police respond: “During Jerusalem Day, more than 60 suspects were arrested and detained by the police on suspicion of involvement in the various incidents and more arrests are expected. Thousands of uniformed and undercover police worked to ensure the safe holding of the traditional Flag March, which has been taking place on Jerusalem Day for decades with the participation of tens of thousands of marchers. Police forces handled a number of instances of disturbance of the peace, rock-throwing, shooting of firecrackers and violent incidents that occurred in East Jerusalem. The police used riot-dispersal measures to disperse rioters and conducted arrests. The police also prevented acts of vandalism, friction and violent incidents.
“Every complaint that was received by the police concerning events that occurred in the course of the day is being thoroughly investigated in order to arrive at the truth and to hold those involved fully accountable. In some of these cases, suspects have already been arrested. We will continue to act with resolve and with all the forces and means at our disposal to arrest and bring to justice all lawbreakers and disturbers of the peace, without regard to religion or nationality.”
Regarding the assault of journalist Iyad Harab, the police say, “The Israel Police arrested two suspects who are residents of central Israel on suspicion of involvement in the assault on the journalist in the course of the disturbance of the peace in East Jerusalem. Police officers who were on the scene arrested two suspects in their twenties, residents of the center of the country, and an investigation has been opened at the Shalem Police Station in the Jerusalem District. We view violence of any kind with the utmost seriousness, particularly violence directed at journalists who are doing their jobs. We will continue to act with determination against violence and thuggery, so that offenders involved in such actions are held fully accountable.”
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