Police attacks protesters in Umm al-Fahm: Communist Member of Knesset among the wounded

Hundreds of Arab-Palestinians, Israel citizens, angry over Israel’s military operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza burned tires and staged a demonstration near Umm al-Fahm junction on Route 65.

MK Barakeh examining the wounds of MK Agbaria (Photo: Panet)

MK Barakeh examining the wounds of MK Agbaria (Photo: Panet)

Communist Member of Knesset and Um al-Fahm resident, Dr. Afo Agbaria, was mildly injured when a concussion grenade struck him in the chest. The protesters marched, carrying Palestinian flags, and chanted in support of Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, and also chanted against the ongoing Israeli violations against the detainees, and ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people in the occupied West Bank. The police fired several gas bombs and concussion grenades before attacking the protesters with batons, causing several injuries and, finally, arrested protesters.

Communist Member of Knesset (MK), chairperson of Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), Mohammad Barakeh, stated that the attack, by the police and undercover forces, was planned, especially since the undercover forces deliberately targeted MK Agbaria. “This demonstration is a protest against the violence of the IDF and against the illegal arrests and illegal activities of the IDF in the territories,” Barakeh said.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman lashed out at the hundreds of Arab demonstrators who clashed with police at Umm el-Fahm junction on Friday. Liberman, who heads the extreme-right and racist Israel Beiteinu party, said that the demonstrators “should be treated as terrorists in every sense of the word.”