Israeli police violently cracked down on Palestinians resisting forceful eviction and dispossession in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Friday, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Sizable Israeli police forced its way into the neighborhood for the third consecutive night as Palestinians and solidarity activists gathered to break their Ramadan fasting in solidarity with 40 Palestinians, including 10 children, who face the imminent risk of being kicked out from their homes in the neighborhood to replace them with entirely Jewish settlers.
This is absolutely disgusting! An Israeli settler sprayed pepper gas at Palestinians while they were having Iftar in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood! #SheikhJarrah #SaveSheikhJarrah #Jerusalem pic.twitter.com/pIIZmvuYRM
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 6, 2021
Police, some mounted on horses, attempted to violently disperse the protestors, firing tear gas, stun grenades and skunk water towards them.
They cordoned off the neighborhood in an attempt to prevent residents from other Jerusalem neighborhoods from accessing it, beat up a number of protestors with batons, and detained at least six others, including Secretary-General of Fatah Shadi Mtour.
A fight breaks out in Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem after Israeli settlers erected a tent opposite a communal iftar pic.twitter.com/DKWjHn2N4h
— TRT World (@trtworld) May 6, 2021
Policemen stormed a house in the neighborhood and severely beat up his owner, inflicting bruises across his body, and detained a number of Palestinians inside. The casualty was rushed to a hospital for treatment.
As Palestinians gathered to demonstrate against the forceful eviction of dozens of residents, Jewish settlers, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, a lawmaker and an extreme follower of Meir Kahane – the late founder of the violent extremist Jewish Defense League who advocated the mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians – arrived at the scene, aggravating the situation.
Clashes have erupted in Sheikh Jarrah during Iftar between settlers and the Palestinians breaking their fast. The police have intervened and arrested one Palestinian man pic.twitter.com/vkcYVsCFkC
— لمى Lama (@lalarian) May 6, 2021
Ben-Gvir set up a makeshift office across the street from the Iftar meal as other settlers, who in the last few days chanted racist slogans, such as “Death to Arabs” and called for all Palestinians to be kicked out of the neighborhood, pepper-sprayed at the Iftar table.
Meanwhile, an armed settler opened fire toward a group of Palestinians in the neighborhood. No injuries were reported though.
ICYMI – Itamar Ben-Gvir announced earlier today that he will be setting up office in the high-alert neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrahhttps://t.co/dGiEKaPWgM
— Lara Friedman🔥 (@LaraFriedmanDC) May 6, 2021
Another settler attacked a Palestinian youth who was on his way from his workplace to his house near the neighborhood using a sharp object, wounding him. The casualty was rushed to a hospital for urgent treatment.
Palestinians are expected to proceed with their protests throughout the week and into the next as they attempt to save their neighborhood.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
