Reply #41: Rights groups accuse police of brutality during Nakba protest [View All]

[Scurrilous]

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"Activists and Arab rights organizations are accusing the Israel Police of brutality against protesters during a procession marking Nakba day 10 days ago in a pilgrimage to the abandoned village of Saphoria in Tzipori.

Nakba day, meaning "day of the catastrophe" is an annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian people of the anniversary of the creation of Israel in 1948 (on the same day Israelis celebrate independence), which resulted in their displacement from their land.

At a press conference held Monday, the activists presented video footage and photographs showing police officers beating journalists and even smashing the head of one of the protesters who was already handcuffed and sitting on the ground.

The police officers and the protesters clashed toward the end of the procession. Officers fired tear gas grenades into the crowd, which, in turn, hurled stones at the officers and passing vehicles.

According to the Arab organizations, the conflict began when the police officers tried to steer the protesters, who were carrying Palestinian flags, away from the shoulder of the road. Eye witnesses told Haaretz that this occurred after several verbal requests to stay away from traffic went unheeded.

Thirteen Israeli Arab citizens were arrested in connection to the clashes at the demonstration, and they were all later released without charges. In the remand hearing of the one of the detainees, the court rejected police allegations that Saada Abu Hatoum hurled stones at police officers before he was arrested, saying that a video tape presented by Abu Hatoum's representatives disproves the police claims. "This tape refutes the version presented by the petitioners and therefore I don't think that there is sufficient suspicion to justify his arrest," the judge wrote."

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Arab rights organizations to sue police for Nakba riots

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3545296,00.html

Arab groups claim they have proof of incitement by police present at Nakba assembly turned riot, which resulted in several officers, protestors injured. Police blatantly breaking law, they say

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"Ten days after the clashes that took place during the Nakba (Palestinian day of mourning for the 1948 events that led to the establishment of the State of Israel), the Adalah Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Arab Human Rights Association (AHRA) are claiming that police acted unlawfully and attempted to instigate a riot during the day's demonstrations.

The two organizations plan to demand that the Police Internal Affairs Bureau investigate several senior Northern District officers. Adalah also said they would bring civil suits against the officers that caused harm to demonstrators or their property.

"Israel Police has forgotten what criminal recourse is, breaking virtually every section of the statute," said attorney Orna Cohen of Adalah, said Monday.

Hundreds of people participated in the Nakba assembly at Tzippori junction, during which violent clashes developed between police and demonstrators. Five police officers were wounded, as were some of the demonstrators, among them Knesset Member Wasil Taha (Balad)."