On, Wednesday, November 12, amidst the heightened tension gripping much of Jerusalem over the past few weeks, over 800 people marched peacefully through the village of Issawiya, calling for an end to the collective punishment of the residents of East Jerusalem, and protesting the occupation. The majority of marchers were Palestinians from Issawiya, but joining them was a sizable contingent of outside activists, both Palestinian and Israeli. Among the latter were Jewish and Arab members of Hadash and the Communist Party of Israel who came from the nearby campus of the Hebrew University and elsewhere to express solidarity with the people of the Issawiya.
Organized by an ad-hoc coalition of Palestinian and Israeli activists, the march was intended to highlight the ways in which residents of East Jerusalem in general, and Issawiya in particular, have been the victims of severe collective punishment over the past few weeks.
Palestinian protesters and Israeli activists demonstrate against new concrete blockades recently put in place by Israeli police which restrict access to the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, November 12, 2014. (Photo: Activestills)
The demonstration, which began at 4:00 p.m., was overseen by dozens of Israeli Border Police officers dressed in riot gear and armed with tear gas, rubber bullets, and other crowd dispersal equipment. Some of the officers were mounted on horseback, and behind them loomed a “skunk” vehicle.
In addition to road closures, traffic fines, and demolitions, residents of Issawiya reported that Israeli forces have been firing tear-gas and nauseating “skunk” water directly into homes, injuring innocent civilians and creating a climate of general misery in the village. A letter sent by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) to the Israeli police includes reports of stun grenades being “flung into residential buildings containing families with young children,” and the use by police of a new type of “sponge bullet” that can cause “serious bodily damage.” The letter also maintains that this type of bullet may have been used in the incident in which 16 year-old Mohammad Sunuqrut was killed during an East Jerusalem demonstration on September 9, 2014.
Related:
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Masked police officers carrying out mass arrests in occupied East Jerusalem
Communists in Jerusalem: “Draconian Measures against Deprived Palestinian Population Not a Solution”
