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Palestinians clash with police at Damascus Gate; 22 arrested, 17 wounded

  • October 19, 2021

Palestinians clashed with police on Tuesday at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, leading to 22 arrests and 17 reportedly wounded as tensions at the flashpoint site spiked.

According to police, Palestinians “violently rioted” and threw stones at nearby buses, leading officers to use tear gas and sound grenades against the demonstrators. Police cannons also repeatedly sprayed foul-smelling skunk water over the streets and plaza near the archway in an effort to disperse the Palestinian protesters.

Palestinian Red Crescent medics reported treating 17 wounded Palestinians since Tuesday afternoon around the Damascus Gate area. Ten were hospitalized, while the rest were treated on site, the first-aid organization said. The clashes erupted on the Muslim holiday commemorating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, known in Arabic as al-Mawlid al-Nabawi.

Palestinian media circulated videos on social media which they attested showed apparent Israeli police brutality as they broke up the Palestinian gatherings near Damascus Gate. In videos from the scene, Israeli police could be seen arresting several Palestinians, including children. An undercover officer also apparently fired in the air during an arrest.

Tensions in Jerusalem between Palestinians and Israeli security forces have been rising over the past several days. The two sides have repeatedly clashed near Damascus Gate, leading to “dozens of arrests” over the past few weeks, according to Israel Police.

The recent clashes were ostensibly triggered by Israeli excavations near two Jerusalem cemeteries — the Yusufiyya Cemetery near Herod’s Gate and the Bab al-Rahma cemetery on the other side of the Old City, near the Lion’s Gate.

Palestinian activists have accused Israeli authorities of damaging Palestinian graves at the Yusufiyeh site. An Israeli court rejected the claims, as the land in question had been declared “open public land” and was not within the established boundaries of the cemeteries. An earlier injunction had ordered local Muslim organizations to cease treating the area as a cemetery.

But the clashes appear to have also gathered momentum after nights of repeated violence and arrests near Damascus Gate. On Tuesday morning, an intensive Israeli presence could already be seen deployed across the area, checking cars and searching Palestinian passersby.

“We’re seeing Israel punish Palestinians in our holy city, and this is leading to confrontations on a daily basis near Damascus Gate,” said Nasir al-Qaws, an East Jerusalem Palestinian and activist in the Fatah party.

Other videos on social media showed Jewish passengers in an Israeli bus passing through the area ducking as stones hurled by Palestinians smashed the bus windows.

Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Arieh King appeared to call for Palestinian rioters to be shot. “The time has come to shoot at the torso and hurt the terrorists,” King tweeted in response to the videos.

Damascus Gate emerged as a flashpoint in the escalation leading up to the 11-day May conflict between Israel and Gaza terror groups. In mid-April, Israeli police erected barricades on the stone stairway leading towards the archway during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. The policy sparked violent clashes with Palestinians, for whom sitting on the stairway is a holiday tradition.

Police eventually removed the barricades following public criticism. But the confrontations ignited further violence, and the Jewish supremacist Lehava group held a counter-demonstration on the scene in late April. As the days went by, the nightly clashes at Damascus Gate became a regular event.

In early May, religious-nationalist Israelis planned to hold a traditional march through Damascus Gate on Jerusalem Day to celebrate Israel’s capture of the eastern part of the city in 1967. Security officials warned that the march could ignite tensions with Palestinians or even start a war, and the government rerouted the parade at the last moment.

Hamas terrorists fired rockets towards Israel despite the cancellation, citing recent police raids on the Temple Mount. The hilltop, Judaism’s holiest site, also houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam.

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