Thousands of Palestinians in several locations in the West Bank and Jerusalem took part in violent protests over the weekend. The largest protest took place at the Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem. The protests started Thursday night with the main disturbances in Nablus, Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem, Tulkarem and the Old City of Jerusalem.
The Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas encouraged the violence with a call for “a day of rage.”
“Fatah and the other Palestinian factions have declared a ‘day of rage in support of bleeding, besieged Gaza’ and called for continuing popular protests throughout the West Bank.”
The rioting continued Friday with Palestinians “throwing rocks, firebombs and fireworks at Israeli security forces, and setting tires ablaze. Hamas issued a proclamation calling on Palestinians in the West Bank to escalate the violence, which appeared to have been the largest and most violent protests since the second Intifada.
Israel Channel 1 TV reporter Yoram Cohen tweeted:
“The scenes seen tonight at the Qalandia checkpoint remind [me] of the Intifada. Don’t remember in recent years thousands [of Palestinians] confronting the IDF. Tomorrow, a dramatic day in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.”
The protests quickly escalated to violence confrontations with Palestinians throwing firebombs and firing pyrotechnics at Israeli police. 27 policemen were injured as they prevented the protests from spreading deeper into Israel and Jerusalem neighborhoods.
“Confrontations between youths and soldiers at the checkpoint are nearly a daily phenomenon, but a demonstration of this proportion has not been seen for years. It was organized over the past week in an attempt to change Palestinian policy and to express support for the residents of Gaza and in Hamas’s ‘way of resistance.’”
Despite the two days of fierce rioting, police were able to prevent further escalation throughout Israel and the situation had calmed by Sunday morning.
[Photo: Jordi Bernabeu Farrús / Abed Al Hashlamoun—EPA / flickr]