Abbas promises inquiry into Ramallah police violence

Violent crackdown sent protesters, journalists to hospital and prison this weekend. Another demonstration is scheduled for Tuesday

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the creation of an independent inquiry committee Monday to examine claims of police brutality against protesters over the weekend.

On Saturday, Palestinians marched toward the presidential building in Ramallah, protesting security coordination with Israel and a reported meeting between Abbas and Israeli vice prime minister Shaul Mofaz.

These protests were the first significant demonstrations to take place in the West Bank in months.

Plainclothes security forces intercepted the march and attacked demonstrators and journalists, sending four men to the hospital with injuries and detaining others for several hours, the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), a government-affiliated watchdog, reported.

‘Shaul Mofaz is a war criminal responsible for the death of over 1,500 Palestinians,’ writes a member of ‘Palestinians for Dignity’

On Sunday protesters took to the streets of Ramallah once more, adding police brutality to their list of grievances. Again, the demonstration was dispersed by Palestinian security and 25 participants were injured, according to participants.

The police violence was widely criticized by Palestinian human rights organizations, who demanded the PA conduct a swift investigation into the matter. A youth group named “Palestinians for Dignity” called a demonstration and sit-in at Ramallah’s Manara Square Tuesday evening to protest “police brutality and in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike in occupation prisons.”

“Shaul Mofaz is a war criminal responsible for the death of over 1,500 Palestinians,” wrote a member of “Palestinians for Dignity” on the group’s Facebook page Tuesday. He said the group demanded that the meeting with Mofaz be canceled, not postponed, as the PA announced.

On Tuesday, PA officials were engaged in intensive damage control. President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the importance of free speech in Palestinian society and formed an inquiry committee led by Palestinian billionaire Munib Al-Masri and including PLO official Wasel Abu-Youssef and ICHR director Ahmad Harb.

“I will not allow freedom of speech and freedom of gathering to be violated under any circumstance,” Abbas told PA mouthpiece Al-Ayyam. “Demonstrations will be allowed within the framework of the law.”