JERUSALEM // Police discrimination against Palestinians in Jerusalem has seriously undermined confidence in the disputed city's law enforcement, an Israeli civil liberties group has concluded.
The conduct of Israeli police over the past two years has contributed to a situation in which the "personal safety of Palestinians residing in East Jerusalem has seen a serious and dangerous decline", the Tel Aviv-based Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) said in a report released yesterday. The report cited harsh riot-prevention measures, illegal arrest of minors and unofficial Israeli police policies that favour Jews over Arabs,
ACRI deliberately released the report, entitled "Police Handling of Palestinians in Jerusalem Reveals Growing Violence and Mistrust", to coincide with Jerusalem Day celebrations starting today. They commemorate Israel's capture of East Jerusalem, and subsequent annexation by Israel after the 1967 war.
The report warned that during the Jerusalem Day celebrations "it is convenient to close our eyes to the true reality of the city - one of segregation, isolation and discrimination between its various population groups".
The report criticised the Jerusalem District Police for failing to thoroughly investigate complaints by the 280,000 Palestinian residents while, on the other hand, diligently doing so in the case of Jewish residents.
When Palestinians, who primarily live in East Jerusalem, complain to authorities, the report noted "in many cases the tables are turned against them, and they themselves become suspects in counter-complaints filed by the very same people they had accused".
As a result, it concluded, many Palestinians decline to report crime to police.
Micky Rosenfeld, Israel's police spokesman, denied the allegations, calling such reports "very inaccurate".
He said that in "Arab neighbourhoods - Issawiya, Silwan, Ras al Amoud - our police officers are attacked, and they respond as they should, to protect themselves, as well as members of the public in those areas".
ACRI's report comes amid heightened tensions as a result of the refusal last month by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, to divide Jerusalem with the Palestinians in any peace deal that is reached. Palestinians, who have long complained of discrimination in Jerusalem, want areas of the city captured during the 1967 war to form the capital of their hoped-for state.
In areas of East Jerusalem where Jewish settlers have made new inroads into Palestinian neighbourhoods, such as Silwan, the report highlights the police's "excessive use of riot-control measures".
Palestinian residents regularly protest settler encroachment in such areas and complain, according to the report, of rubber bullets fired by police at dangerously close range.
The report also notes the police misuse of tear gas canisters that allegedly led to the fatal suffocation of a toddler in Jerusalem's Issawiya neighbourhood last October and that have also set homes on fire.
Palestinian youths and pro-Palestinian demonstrations held in the city are also being targeted by what the report described as deliberate police intimidation designed dissuade further activism.
About 1,200 minors in East Jerusalem were questioned last year on suspicion of stone-throwing and another 750 were arrested for "nationalist-motivated crimes". But the report noted that indictments were given in only 226 cases, raising Palestinian suspicions that "most of these arrests and interrogations are intended solely to intimidate the youth, to extract information from them, and to scare them out of ever performing the acts of which they were suspected".
It called the detention or arrest of minors for the purpose of bringing them in for questioning "an extreme measure that severely infringes his liberty, stigmatises him as a criminal, and can cause severe psychological damage".
The report also identified illegal measures used by police to disrupt anti-settler rallies, which have become common in recent years.
During one rally in the Sheikh Jarrah area of East Jerusalem this year, attended by both Israeli and Palestinian activists, masked policemen were caught on film beating protesters in violation of their "obligation to always remain identifiable".
"Immediately after covering their faces the police began their indiscriminately violent attacks on the demonstrators," the report said, adding that the incident was "just one of a number of police actions carried out in East Jerusalem in which masked police officers took part".
[ hnaylor@thenational.ae ]
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
BLACKBERRY
Director: Matt Johnson
Stars: Jay Baruchel, Glenn Howerton, Matt Johnson
Rating: 4/5
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
MATCH INFO
Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')
Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90+4')
Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
Top tips
Create and maintain a strong bond between yourself and your child, through sensitivity, responsiveness, touch, talk and play. “The bond you have with your kids is the blueprint for the relationships they will have later on in life,” says Dr Sarah Rasmi, a psychologist.
Set a good example. Practise what you preach, so if you want to raise kind children, they need to see you being kind and hear you explaining to them what kindness is. So, “narrate your behaviour”.
Praise the positive rather than focusing on the negative. Catch them when they’re being good and acknowledge it.
Show empathy towards your child’s needs as well as your own. Take care of yourself so that you can be calm, loving and respectful, rather than angry and frustrated.
Be open to communication, goal-setting and problem-solving, says Dr Thoraiya Kanafani. “It is important to recognise that there is a fine line between positive parenting and becoming parents who overanalyse their children and provide more emotional context than what is in the child’s emotional development to understand.”
US federal gun reform since Sandy Hook
- April 17, 2013: A bipartisan-drafted bill to expand background checks and ban assault weapons fails in the Senate.
- July 2015: Bill to require background checks for all gun sales is introduced in House of Representatives. It is not brought to a vote.
- June 12, 2016: Orlando shooting. Barack Obama calls on Congress to renew law prohibiting sale of assault-style weapons and high-capacity magazines.
- October 1, 2017: Las Vegas shooting. US lawmakers call for banning bump-fire stocks, and some renew call for assault weapons ban.
- February 14, 2018: Seventeen pupils are killed and 17 are wounded during a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.
- December 18, 2018: Donald Trump announces a ban on bump-fire stocks.
- August 2019: US House passes law expanding background checks. It is not brought to a vote in the Senate.
- April 11, 2022: Joe Biden announces measures to crack down on hard-to-trace 'ghost guns'.
- May 24, 2022: Nineteen children and two teachers are killed at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
- June 25, 2022: Joe Biden signs into law the first federal gun-control bill in decades.
