by aspiringnomad, December 4th
In Tel Aviv on Saturday, a peaceful rally of several hundred people demonstrating at the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine and the recent Beit Hanoun massacre was marred by the arrest of a 20-year old Israeli peace activist.
The rally began peacefully with the predominantly Israeli contingent creating a convivial atmosphere with drums and whistles as they marched to Rabin Square. Apart from a few missiles thrown by occupants of overlooking apartments and the odd heckle from angry passers-by, the rally demonstrated none of the hostility common to similar such rallies in the occupied territories due to the absence of a confrontational Israeli military presence.
The arrest occurred when a demonstrator attempted to attach an anti-war bumper sticker to the window of a McDonald’s restaurant. The police reacted to this by flinging the female demonstrator to the ground. Another demonstrator who came to her aid was subsequently beaten and apprehended by upwards of a dozen police.
Police at the scene alleged the protester had tried to break a glass window of the MacDonald’s branch and had assaulted an officer with a flag pole he was holding.
However, eye witnesses refute these grounds for arrest, backed up by video footage disproving the police’s version of events and furthermore showing excessive police violence during the protester’s arrest.
The arrested activist from Nahariya, sustained a black eye and head injuries in the course of his arrest. Onlookers and marchers alike were shocked at this display of police force, unused as they are to the daily violence meted out by the IOF in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
