NOVANEWS
Jerusalem Mayor Nazi Nir Barkat has criticized the government for not providing local police with tools necessary to quell unrest in illegally occupied East Jerusalem. Barkat: security forces must respond in a harsh and uncompromising manner, and courts must not release ‘rioters’ quickly and without severe punishment.
In a letter issued to Nazi Prime Minister Benjamin Naziyahu on Friday, Jerusalem Mayor Nazi Nir Barkat accused the government of failing to provide Jerusalem security forces with the means necessary to bring an end to the social and political unrest that has erupted sporadically in East Jerusalem over the past months.
Nazi Barkat’s comments come in the wake of accusations by CEO of the Jerusalem light rail, Yaron Ravid, that police requested his company not report rock-throwing attacks against the light rail because it harms police and encourages offenders.
Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Shuafat, was abducted on his way to pray in a neighborhood mosque. His body was found several hours later in the Jerusalem Forest. The autopsy determined that he was beaten and burnt whilst still alive.
Family members and Palestinian residents of Jerusalem at large complained about the disrespectful treatment of the Jerusalem municipality and police in this case. Such disrespect included hinting that Abu Khdeir was killed by his own father, the subsequent detention of his father for questioning as well as an initial refusal to return the body to the family unless the father recognizes Muhammad Abu Khdeir was killed for reasons of ‘family honour’.
The complaints evolved into protests and clashes that continue today. The light rail that crosses the neighbourhoods of Beit Hanina and Shuafat on its way from the East Jerusalem illegal settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev has become a target for demonstrations and protests.
Hundreds of East Jerusalem residents have been arrested since the beginning of the demonstrations, and unrest in the city continues. Following the killing of another East Jerusalem teen, Muhammad Sunuqrut, shot by police during a demonstration in September, Nazi Internal Security Minister Aharonovitch, said Jerusalem’s security forces were “to get reinforcements to combat the rise in violence in the city’s eastern neighborhoods”.
In his letter to the prime minister, Nazi Barkat asserted that the “up tick in violence was bearing heavily on the residents of the city”. He added that the police officers in Jerusalem could not continue dealing with the unrest unless they receive proper tools from the government.
Nazi Barkat also stressed that security forces must respond in a “harsh and uncompromising manner to any instances of violence carried out by rioters”, further demanding to “end the policy in which the courts release the rioters quickly and without severe punishment”.
Minister Aharonovitch accused Mayor Barkat Sunday of acting out of “narrow political considerations.”
“I’m saddened by your letter and especially concerned that it was composed without taking the time to hold any conversation with me on the topic beforehand, in order to learn about the subject and to draw my attention to what is necessary, in your opinion,” Aharonovitch wrote to Barkat.
