Demonstrators face off in Haifa after alleged police violence at pro-Gaza rally
Hundreds call for release of protesters detained Friday as police request court extend their remand; minister asks criminal probe be opened into Arab MK who called cop ‘zero’
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Hundreds of people gathered in Haifa Sunday evening to protest the continued detention of 21 demonstrators arrested at a Gaza solidarity rally over the weekend that sparked accusations of police violence.
Some 200 people protested in separate locations in Haifa, along Ben Gurion Boulevard, downtown and outside the city’s Magistrate’s court, waving Palestinian flags and calling to free the jailed protesters.
Police said participants at one of the demonstrations shouted slogans against the US and Israel, while also praising the “martyrs” killed in Hamas-led clashes on the Gaza border.
“All the shame on the collaborators of the occupation, Israel is a terror state,” police said the protesters chanted.
תיעוד נוסף מהפגנת השמאל בחיפה. 19 עצורים מהפגנות סוף השבוע מובאים ביחד לבית המשפט, שם המשטרה מבקשת להאריך את מעצרם בחמישה ימים (אורלי אלקלעי ו-@nitzanglusman) pic.twitter.com/b4sGUrbwVE
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 20, 2018
The protest on Ben Gurion Boulevard drew several dozen nationalist counter-protesters, who stood on the other side of the road waving Israeli flags and calling to “return Haifa to Israel.”
The demonstration outside the Haifa Magistrate’s Court came as 19 of those arrested in the rally Friday were brought to the court, with police requesting their remand be extended by five days.
Large police forces were deployed in the city in light of Friday’s protest, which police said included stone throwing at officers, property damage, attempts to block roads and the disturbing of public order.
תיעוד: הנוכחים בהפגנת התמיכה במדיניות צה"ל בעזה, בשדרות בן גוריון בחיפה, שרים את "התקווה" @10elilevi pic.twitter.com/o1lOO8TwgR
— חדשות 13 (@newsisrael13) May 20, 2018
Twenty-one people were arrested Friday night when the demonstration was dispersed. Jafar Farah, the head of an Arab rights group, sustained a broken knee in the aftermath of his arrest. Farah was hospitalized at the Bnei Zion Medical Center Sunday morning.
The Justice Ministry’s police internal investigations department has opened a preliminary investigation into Farah’s injury. Investigators from the department, which is independent of the police, will ask police for relevant material, and then decide whether to open a formal investigation into the incident.
In response, police said that all of Friday’s arrests were “carried out lawfully and in accordance with procedures,” but did not offer an explanation for Farah’s injury.
It was unclear how Farah suffered the knee injury, and police did not respond to The Times of Israel’s request for comment.
Footage of his arrest the day prior shows Farah being led away in handcuffs and walking on his own.
Farah told the court Sunday that the police officer broke his knee when he asked a question after his arrest.
He said he had not taken part in the protest, but had gone to check on his son, who was participating.
“When I arrived I saw the area was surrounded by riot police. I asked an officer if I could leave. He told me ‘nobody is leaving.’ I saw my son and nephew were arrested. I again tried to leave and the police did not let me,” he told the court, according to the Mako news website. “I was arrested at that point. I waited cuffed for 20 minutes until a cruiser was located to transport me away and I was put in a cell with 20 other people. I asked, what’s going on with my son, and the cop smashed my foot with all his strength and brought me to the ground.”
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Police have defended their handling of Friday’s protest amid allegations of violence and that they violated demonstrators’ freedom of expression.
“Throughout the year, the Israel Police allows demonstrations and protests in order to realize the freedom of expression in a democratic state. With this, the police will act firmly against those who disrupt order and threaten the safety and security of the public, and those who act against the character of [Israel] as a democratic state and the rule of law,” police said.
Ayman Odeh MK, the head of the Joint (Arab) List in the Knesset, has accused the police of “brutal” treatment of Arab protesters.
On Sunday, he joined the demonstrators in Haifa, slamming law enforcement for “suppressing the demonstration without giving an explanation.”
Odeh said the violence directed at Farah showed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “wants to silence all voices of protest and opposition.”
On Saturday, Odeh was caught on camera calling a police officer at the hospital were Farah was being treated a “zero,” after he was denied entry.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan published a letter Sunday he sent to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit calling for a criminal investigation to be opened into Odeh for interfering with a police officer carrying out his duties, insulting a public official, violating a legal order and making threats.
The outburst also drew a harsh response from Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman who branded Odeh and his associates “terrorists” who should be jailed.
“Every day that Ayman Odeh and his associates are free to walk around cursing at police officers is a failure of law enforcement authorities,” Liberman tweeted on Sunday.“The place for these terrorists is not in the Knesset, it’s in prison,” Liberman said.
Likud MK Nava Boker said Sunday that she had asked the Knesset Ethics Committee to discipline Odeh over the confrontation at the hospital.
“We cannot remain silent when Knesset members humiliate [police], harm them and turn them into a punching bag,” she tweeted.
The Times of Israel Community.