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Demonstrators in downtown Jerusalem, Sunday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners February 6, 2006 |
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Thousands of right-wing demonstrators protested in Jerusalem on Sunday night against the police's use of force during the evacuation of part of the Samarian settlement outpost of Amona last week. The crowd, predominantly teenagers, called for a state commission of inquiry into the use of excessive force by police. Estimates ranged from 80,000 to 100,000
More than 200 people, including police, were injured during the demolition of nine buildings at the outpost last week. Protesters at Amona hurled rocks, eggs and bricks at the security forces, who responded by swinging clubs from horseback and using water cannons to keep people back.
The rally's theme was "[Ehud] Olmert is bad for the Jews". The protest was the largest of its kind since the Gaza Strip evacuation last summer.
Haaretz news reported that huge television screens in Jerusalem's Zion Square broadcasted the harsh images from Amona to tens of thousands of people: police officers hitting bleeding protesters lying on the ground. Typical horror-film music played in the background.
Pictures of Olmert occasionally interrupted the Amona footage, accompanied by the slogan: "Olmert is bad for the Jews, Olmert wants civil war." Next to "Olmert is bad for the Jews" was the image of a mounted officer trampling a teenaged boy.
"Olmert and Kadima are responsible for Hamastan" and "End Police Brutality" were among the placards in the sea of protesters at Zion Square.
Knesset member Uri Ariel tore his shirt as an act of mourning over the Amona evacuation.
"How do we know Olmert is bad for the Jews? Because Ehud ran away. We presented a compromise offer to him, but he wanted to see blood and fire in Hebron," he said at the rally.
"In Amona he also wanted to see Jewish blood, but we did not give it to him. We will remove him from power on March 28 (Israeli elections). Olmert wanted to see broken hands and police received orders to act violently."
Most of the protest was directed at Olmert, who was accused of causing a civil war.
"When we arrive at a situation where Jews are fighting Jews, and the country is fighting its own people, something is wrong and we have to stand up and say something," said Racheli Shoshan, 18, from Neveh Daniel in Gush Etzion, Jpost reported.
The Rabbis Union, headed by Avraham Shapira, issued a statement on the Amona evacuation saying "We are shocked by the pogrom committed by those in uniform (security forces) during the destruction of homes at Amona."
"We repeat: The Land of Israel is sacred, and the Torah does not permit giving any of it away to foreigners," the statement said.
Ynetnews reported that the protesters in Zion Square received a pamphlet with instructions following the Amona incident reading "According to the police, a wave of arrests is planned for the next few days, this following video footage shot by the police and television stations."
The pamphlet said that it is better to remain silent and deny the charges.
"The information obtained by the police is partial and unfounded, and therefore their only goal is that you provide them with the missing information to further substantiate the evidence," the pamphlet said.
Around 1,000 police officers were securing the demonstration, but a Yesha Council source said that "we fear contact between settlers and police officers."
The demonstration was organized by the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
AP contributed to this report.
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