Six peace Israeli activists were arrested during a protest at the newly settlement “Ma’ale Zeitim” in Palestinian East Jerusalem on Friday. Just two days earlier, on Wednesday, extreme-right Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan attended the dedication ceremony of the second stage of the Ma’ale Hazeitim settlement in Ras al-Amud, which celebrated 60 new apartments in the compound.

On Friday, protesters say that police used stun guns in the arrests, which would mark the first time this type of weapon has been used on protesters in East Jerusalem. The protest began in Sheikh Jarrah, where a weekly demonstration is held to protest settlement in the East Jerusalem neighborhood. This week’s protesters, who numbered more than two hundred, marched to Ma’ale Zeitim as a result of the recent ceremony held there.

During the protest, fighting broke out between the activists and security forces at the settlement. According to the protesters, they were attacked by security, who used stun guns on them and arrested them. The protesters also said that police broke the hand of one of those arrested.

A Tel-Aviv Communist Party of Israel member, who took part in the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement demonstration in Ras al-Amud, said that the police used extremely violent force against the protesters, adding that police officers used stun guns for the first time, although there was no provocation on the part of the protesters. “We held a protest rally against the settlement two days after the settlers themselves held a mass event, during which they blocked access roads without police intervention,” she said. She noted that one of the injured protesters, who was also arrested by the police, is among the movement’s leaders.

Watch clashes in Ras al-Amud:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgB527Z2j1s&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7i2XqrSQ2U&feature=player_embedded