Photos of a policeman digging his knee into the neck of a protester during demonstrations against the prime minister in Jerusalem yesterday have elicited outrage by activists and on social media, evoking the actions of the American cop alleged to have killed George Floyd through the same technique, leading to massive nation-wide protests.
Several officers were filmed slamming one demonstrator to the ground during yesterday’s events, with one of them digging his knee into an activist’s face and neck.
The man, 28-year-old Or Yerushalmi, told Haaretz that he was attacked after he tried to prevent a cop from punching a middle-aged woman who was protesting alongside him.
“I tried to stop him and hold back his hand, but then he and another officer yanked me to the floor. Then, two or three cops — I do not know how many for sure — grabbed me. One held me down and the other put his foot on my neck. It lasted a few seconds and hurt, but I did not suffocate,” he said.
An Israeli police officer puts his knee on a demonstrator to make an arrest during a protest against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem, early Wednesday, July 22, 2020. (AP Photo/ Ariel Schalit)
“If he’d used a bit more force, I would not have been able to breathe.”
In June Israel’s first-ever Bedouin diplomat complained that he was manhandled by security guards at a bus depot in Jerusalem, saying the guards constricted his neck and made it difficult for him to breathe, and one placed a leg on his head until another guard told him to stop.
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 22, 2020
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