East Jerusalem fracas leads to heavy clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians
Six Border Police officers hurt by stone-throwers, Palestinian women suffer tear gas inhalation.
By Liel Kyzer and Nir Hasson Tags: Israel news East JerusalemPalestinian protesters and Border Police officers engaged in heavy clashes on Sunday near a Jewish enclave in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, leaving dozens of Palestinians - including children and at least one pregnant woman - suffering from tear gas inhalation, Palestinian sources said. The police said six Border Police officers were hurt by stones thrown by the protesters.
It was not immediately clear if Israeli forces used live fire or assaulted Palestinian residents, as some Palestinians said. Left-wing activist Amiel Vardi said he had been told that three people had been wounded by Israeli fire.
The Jerusalem police said they were not aware of any Palestinian casualties.
The clashes began with a fracas between some 150 protesters and the settlers' security guards, according to Palestinian sources, and spiraled into an exchange of lobbing stones on the part of the demonstrators.
The Israeli forces dispersed tear gas and fired stun grenades to disperse protesters, who were throwing firebombs at an apartment building inhabited by Jews.
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Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli military vehicle in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem, in May 2010. |
| Photo by: Archive |
The confrontation took place near Beit Yonatan, a seven-story home for several Jewish families that was built illegally in a predominantly Arab neighborhood. Several other hot spots are in the same area: Beit Hadvash, another home for Jewish families in Silwan, and a Yemenite synagogue from the pre-state era where four Arab families are living.
Protests in the neighborhood have been a regular event in recent months, but stepped up last week after Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat approved the demolition of 22 illegally built Arab homes in the neighborhood to make room for a tourist park.
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Kfar Hatemanim was part of Silwan. The Temanim in question made Aliyah well before the establishment of the State and were not permitted to settle in West Jerusalem because of discrimination there, believe it or not. The inhabitants of Silwan lived in peace with them until 1948.
Can someone explain to me how a Yemenite synagogue exists in an Arab neighborhood that pre-dates the creation of the State of Israel? Does this mean that Jews lived in that area before Israel became a State? What happened to these Yemenite Jews? How come the synagogue is now used as housing? Could it be that Jordan evicted the Jewish population when it conquered and occupied the eastern half of Jerusalem?
Which was settled by Yemenite Jews in the 1870s and 1880s who wanted to live close to Jerusalem's Old City. The area served as a decent, albeit poverty-stricken home for hundreds of these Jews until they were forcibly evicted by the British in the early 1930s during Arab riots in the area, and beyond (see Hebron, Jerusalem's Old City, etc.) The area was ethnically cleansed of Jews during this time and then it fell into Jordanian hands in 1948. The rest, as they say, is history - Jordanian occupation of east J'lem from 1948 to 1967, Israeli takeover and subsequent rule in east J'lem...which has led to the status quo. Oh right, somewhere along the line, in the early 1960s I guess, the Arab nations concocted the name "Palestinian" to refer to the Arabs living under Jordanian rule in east Jerusalem and the West Bank and Egyptian control in Gaza. Oh wait, now I'm, bashing Haaretz's sponsors...let's leave it there for now - feel free to ask more questions. Leftists need to be educated from time to time, or all that hatred and bitterness can literally burn their blackened hearts into ashes.
You're offering skewed history. Kfar Hatemanim is a row of houses in the heart of Silwan. Go take a look. Silwan existed loooooong before Kfar Hatemanim.
These are violent mobs of rioters not protesters. The article misleads and if not for the police we would have a pogrom on our hands.
This was a direct result of the announcement of the expansion & demolitions....not as simple as you seem to think...these reckless plans will create nothing but a full range of future problems...
They are trying to create a diversion to make everyone forget the court order that they evacuate and destroy a couple of floors, which the municipality and many in the government oppose. On Friday there was a substantial, peaceful demonstration against the announcement of those reckless plans you refer to, Deb, which brought attention to the fact that a considerable number of Israeli Jews and Israeli and Jerusalem Arabs are willing to pull together over the insane policy of inserting the most hardline settlers into densely populated, Arab East Jerusalem.