Israeli police discriminated against Arabs during wave of riots - Amnesty

"The vast majority arrested in the police crackdown following the outbreak of intercommunal violence were Palestinian."

By TZVI JOFFRE
Updated: JUNE 24, 2021 14:25
Said Musa, 33-year-old from Ramla, was dragged out of his car on the Bat Yam Promenade by attackers carrying Israeli flags, and beaten (Credit: Amnesty International)
Israeli police discriminated against and failed to protect Arab-Israelis during a wave of Arab and Jewish riots and violence that swept Israel during and after Operation Guardian of the Walls, according to a new report by Amnesty International.
The NGO spoke to 11 witnesses and verified 45 videos and other forms of digital media to document over 20 cases of what it called "Israeli police violations" between May 9 and June 12. The report referred to both Arab-Israelis and Palestinians as "Palestinians."
Amnesty also verified 29 text and audio messages from open Telegram channels and WhatsApp, showing how the apps were used by Jewish extremists to recruit armed men and organize attacks on Arab Israelis between May 10 and 21.
The messages included instructions on where and when to gather, which weapons to use and what clothing to wear. One message allegedly read: “Tonight we are not Jews, we are Nazis.”
The report referenced an incident in Bat Yam in which Jewish extremists rioted and assaulted Arab-Israelis. Some six Israelis were arrested for an assault conducted during the riot, with at least three charged with attempted murder and acts of terror.
The NGO also referenced the shooting of Musa Hassuna, 33, who was shot by a Jewish-Israeli during violent Arab-Israeli riots in Lod. Video showed him near a group of Arab-Israelis who were throwing rocks. Some four suspects were arrested after the incident, but were later released on bail.
Amnesty additionally referred to several incidents in which Jewish demonstrators chanted "Death to Arabs."
 

The NGO also decried alleged incitement to violence by Israeli politicians and officials, including Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, who called on Jewish Israelis to come to Lod to support local residents during violent riots in the city.
 

“Police have an obligation to protect all people under Israel’s control, whether they are Jewish or Palestinian. Instead, the vast majority arrested in the police crackdown following the outbreak of intercommunal violence were Palestinian," said Saleh Higazi, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. "The few Jewish citizens of Israel arrested were dealt with more leniently. Jewish supremacists also continue to organize demonstrations while Palestinians face repression.”
Amnesty claimed that during the unrest, Israeli police carried out a "discriminatory repressive campaign" against Arab-Israelis and Palestinians, including mass arrests, excessive force and even torture of detainees.
 

The NGO also claimed that it documented torture at the Russian Compound police station in Nazareth on May 12, with an eyewitness telling Amnesty that they saw special forces beating a group of at least eight bound detainees who were arrested at a protest.
“It was like a brutal prisoner of war camp. The officers were hitting the young men with broomsticks and kicking them with steel-capped boots. Four of them had to be taken away by ambulance, and one had a broken arm,” said the eyewitness to Amnesty.
The NGO claimed that Operation Law and Order, which was launched in response to the unrest, primarily targeted Arab-Israeli and Palestinian protesters.
Mossawa, an Arab-Israeli human rights group, reported that police had arrested over 2,150 people by June 10, with 90% of the detainees being Arab-Israeli or Palestinian. According to Adalah, another Arab-Israeli human rights group, 184 indictments were filed against 285 defendants, with only 30 Jewish Israelis being among those indicted.
The NGO additionally claimed that Israeli police used "unnecessary and excessive force" against what it termed "mostly peaceful" protests, while Jewish extremists were allowed to demonstrate freely.
 

The report included a collection of videos of violent incidents throughout Israel, including a few incidents in which Jewish Israelis were attacked by Arab-Israelis and at least one incident in which the identity of the attackers was unclear. The text of the report did not detail incidents in which Jewish Israelis were attacked.
 

Amnesty pointed out a number of specific incidents, including a protest in the German Colony of Haifa, in which a protest by Arab-Israelis clashed with Israeli police, with the NGO saying police attacked protesters, unprovoked.
Another incident involved Muhammad Mahmoud Qiwan, 17, who was shot in the head by police near Umm al-Fahm while he was sitting in a car near a protest. Kiwan died a week later. Israeli police dispute the claim and are investigating the incident, according to Amnesty.
The report referred to the riots which swept Israel as "intercommunal violence," pointing out incidents of alleged Jewish Israeli violence, while rarely pointing out specific incidents of Arab-Israeli and Palestinian violence against Jewish Israelis.
The events leading up to many of the incidents were not documented in the videos shared by Amnesty International as evidence of the alleged discrimination.
Higazi claimed in the report that the evidence gathered by the NGO "paints a damning picture of discrimination and ruthless excessive force by Israeli police."
The deputy director claimed that police policy was "orchestrated as an act of retaliation and intimidation to crush pro-Palestinian demonstrations and silence those who speak out to condemn Israel’s institutionalized discrimination and systemic oppression of Palestinians."


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