Cop caught on tape pepper-spraying activist at East Jerusalem protest

Six police officers were lightly injured and 25 left-wing activists were arrested on Friday during a demonstration in East Jerusalem. One officer was caught on tape spraying a protester's face with pepper spray.

In an unusual move for detainees arrested at demonstrations, police requested the court extend the remand of several protesters who were arrested in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. They had come there to protest the eviction of Palestinian families from their homes.

Haaretz has obtained a video that shows a police officer pepper-spraying the face of a left-wing demonstrator who was among those detained.

The activist, Eyal Nir, a chemistry lecturer at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, claims that he was not resisting the policeman, with whom he is seen arguing. Nir was taken to a hospital later on Friday for treatment for his eye, which was affected by the pepper spray, and for a dislocated shoulder, which resulted from a scuffle with police.

Jerusalem police say the footage has been edited in a manner to reflect badly on the officers. "You don't see what happened beforehand," said Chief Superintendent Shmuel Ben-Ruby, the Jerusalem police spokesman. "There was an exceptionally violent demonstration. We don't just beat protesters - the fact is the last demonstrations passed quietly."

The protest comes after a court ruling earlier in the month that an Arab family living in the house in question could not live in an addition that it built to the structure. Three Palestinian families have been evicted from Sheikh Jarrah in recent months.