מהומות שער שכם מזרח ירושלים ערבים
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Riots in J'lem pursuant to Beit Hanoun deaths
East Jerusalem youths disturb the peace Saturday, in protest of Wednesday morning explosion in Beit Hanoun
Mea Shaarim may have been calm Saturday, but the same could not be said for all areas of Jerusalem. This time, the protests were focused on the Wednesday morning explosion in Beit Hanoun, which left 19 Palestinians dead.
A number of riots occurred in the Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Fortunately, no one was hurt. One rioter was detained.
Saturday afternoon, hundreds of female students set out from the village of Zur Bahar, in the Jerusalem periphery, intending to march in protest of the Wednesday incident. Police forces stopped them from marching, because they had not received prior authorization to do so. The girls dispersed without resistance.
Later in the day, a number of youths set tires on fire in the Palestinian town of Isawiyya in northern Jerusalem. Emergency forces were called to the area and put out the fire.
Dozens of youths congregated in an East Jerusalem neighborhood, also requesting to march in protest of the deaths in Beit Hanoun. When they did not receive police authorization to do so, they threw bottles and rocks at the policemen.
There were no ensuing casualties and police dispersed the rioters. One of them, who had thrown stones, was detained.
Pursuant to the Wednesday explosion in Beit Hanoun, police increased their alert level across Israel. The primary concerns are riots among Israeli-Arabs and residents of East Jerusalem.
