18 injured as Israeli forces raid Al-Aqsa after prayers

[Jefferson23]

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- At least 18 Palestinians were injured when Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian worshipers after prayers in the al-Aqsa compound on Friday.

A Ma'an reporter said dozens of Israeli soldiers raided the compound and fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at worshipers.

Director of Al-Aqsa clinic Adnan Khanafseh told a Ma'an reporter that the 18 people were treated in the compound's clinics for fractures, injuries from stun grenade splinters, and rubber-coated steel bullets.

A child and a 40-year-old man were among the people treated, and three people were transferred to hospital for further treatment, Khanafseh added.


http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=671549

[Scootaloo]

1. Netanyahu must be getting impatient with the lack of violence n/t

[Mosby]

2. not a good idea to throw shit at cops

If this happened in the US those responsible would be shot dead.

[Scootaloo]

3. And we know the cops never lie; for they tell us so!

[Mosby]

4. fair point

But what's the alternative?

Israeli Cop 1: "I'm bored, let's tell the commander that those Arab kids are throwing rocks at us"

Israeli cop 2: "Yeah, that's a great idea, no better way to pass the time than busting open kids heads."

Israeli cop 1: "commander those vermin, oops I mean Arab kids are throwing rocks at us. One of the rocks broke shmuleys sunglasses." Shmuley pulls out broken sunglasses out of his pocket.

Commander: "well that's outrageous, don't they know who they are fucking with? We will fuck their shit up so help me hashem.

Yup, probably happened exactly like that.

[azurnoir]

6. Why were the Israeli police at Al-Aqsa in the first place?

[King_David]

7. Does the mosque have their own police force ?

[azurnoir]

8. Doesn't explain the apparent need to raid the entire compound

and cause multiple injuries does it?

[King_David]

9. ''police officers that were located at the Mughrabi area which is just outside the Temple Mount,"

Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said police had responded after stones were thrown at them.

"After the Friday prayers on the Temple Mount there were stones that were thrown by number of asked Palestinians toward police officers that were located at the Mughrabi area which is just outside the Temple Mount," he said

"Israeli police units responded by using stun grenades and entering inside the Temple Mount area, immediately we made sure that we dispersed all the rioters."

Rosenfeld said police had arrested seven people during the two-hour operation.


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/israeli-forces-raid-al-aqsa-mosque-201427164534755189.html


Seems like they had very good reason.

[azurnoir]

10. so some kids throwing stones was reason to raid the entire area and injure 18 people?

any reason will do for some I guess, seems a use of excessive force IMO though

didn't the "Mughrabi used to be known as the Moroccan Gate? care to tell us what happened to the Moroccan Quarter?

[King_David]

11. No I don't care to tell you what happened to the Moroccan Quarter?

But I do wonder what would happen if a bunch of kids at the NEW YORK MOSQUE (ISLAMIC CULTURAL CENTER) or at the Lincoln square synagogue started throwing rocks at the NYC police.


'some kids throwing stones was reason to raid the entire area' (?) YES.... and a very excellent reason at that.

[azurnoir]

12. The Israeli government razed the Moroccan Quarter within days of occupying East Jerusalem

presumably to keep Arabs more distant from the Wailing Wall, Is the new York cultural center under hostile occupation? do you also rationalize the injuries to 18 people?

[sabbat hunter]

13. They were outside the compound

at the Moroccan gate.

[azurnoir]

14. at some point they entered n/t

[sabbat hunter]

16. from the articles I have seen

they entered after the rocks were thrown at them.


Now the question remains, is it normal practice for Israel to have police stationed at the Moroccan gate? If so then why today was there an issue? It does seem from other articles that there was a coordinated effort among the Palestinians to protest violently via rock throwing, etc at Israeli forces at various places in the WB.

[Jefferson23]

5. Israeli forces open fire on protests across West Bank, injuring dozens

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Dozens of Palestinians were injured on Friday as protesters clashed with Israeli military forces in villages across the West Bank.

Demonstrations against the Israeli occupation took place in Kafr Qaddum, Beit Ummar, al-Jalazun, and Silwad on Friday afternoon.

Israeli forces responded with force injuring more than 30 protesters with live and rubber-coated steel bullets as well as dozens more with excessive firing of tear gas.

Five Israeli soldiers were also reported injured in the clashes after being struck by rocks.

Kafr Qaddum

In the Qalqiliya area village of Kafr Qaddum, four people, including a child, were injured during a weekly protest against the annexation of local land by Israel.

Saqer Obeid, 58, was injured after being struck in the head by a tear gas canister and Mahmoud Riyadh Eshtewi, 5, was struck with a tear gas canister in the leg.

Kamil Barham, 23, and Nasser Hasan, 43, were shot with steel bullets in the hand and foot, while dozens suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.

Murad Eshtewi, a local coordinator for a popular resistance committee, said the protest started after Friday prayers, with hundreds of villagers and activists marching through the village.

Israeli soldiers and border police units raided the area and fired tear gas, stun grenades and steel bullets at the protesters.

An Israeli army spokesman said "40 Palestinians hurled rocks at Israeli security forces, who responded with riot dispersal means."

Protests are held every Friday in Kafr Qaddum against Israel's closure of a main road linking the village to its nearest city, Nablus. The road has been closed since 2000.

Beit Ummar

In Beit Ummar, two Palestinians were injured and one detained during clashes with Israeli military forces.

Israeli forces fired tear gas at Palestinians congratulating a local man who had been released from an Israeli jail after eight years.

An Israeli soldier was hit by a rock, a local popular resistance committee member said.

Al-Jalazun

Meanwhile, 12 Palestinians were injured with live gunfire and two were struck in the head by tear gas canisters in the Ramallah refugee camp of al-Jalazun.

remainder: http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=671583

[sabbat hunter]

15. with all these protestes

happening at the same time/day, it sounds like it was a coordinated effort across the WB to protest the occupation.

However if the people organizing the protests were smart, they would make sure that there was no rock throwing, violence on the palestinians part. Instead use peaceful, non-violent, passive resistance type protests. Once you use violence in the protest, the Israeli forces are going to respond with violence.

The fact that the rock throwers cover their faces, shows that they know that what they are doing will not be seen in a good light.


Under international law, as the occupying force, Israel has the right/obligation to keep things orderly, responding with force if they encounter force. But if non-violent means are used, things are a lot more dicey, and will make Israel look a lot worse if they respond with force to respond to non-violent, peaceful protests.

Look at India under the British. What won the day for them was the peaceful, non-violent protests that Gandhi advocated.

[Jefferson23]

18. I can't disagree with that, yet it is the frustration of the ongoing settlements etc that spark

these incidents. Their leadership is horrific too, there is no one like Gandhi in a leadership role among
the Palestinians...nor Israel, for that matter.