Israel Matzav

Anti-war protestors throw feces at police

Can you imagine if this had happened at a right-wing demonstration?

In spite of the arrangement reached with the police, according to which only 1,500 protestors would take part in the march, twice the number of protestors arrived at the place, and it was anyway okayed by the police.

After a one-hour march, the protestors arrived at Allenby Street. They evacuated the road, continued toward the Nahalat Binyamin pedestrian mall, and traffic continued to flow. At a certain stage, the police said, dozens of anarchist activists, along with several left-wing protestors, began walking on the road again and blocking traffic.

According to the police, officers attempted to prevent the disruption to the traffic, and in response the protestors began going wild, throwing objects, sticks, eggs and bags containing excrement at the police.

The police arrested two protestors, and the demonstration continued quietly in Nahalat Binyamin.

Yonatan Pollak, an activists of the Anarchists Against The Fence movement, who took part in the demonstration, claimed that no bags containing excrement were thrown at the police and that the organization's activists did not go wild.

"There was no unruliness, apart from the unruliness on the part of the police, who were eager to fight with the demonstrators," he said.

Former Knesset Member Yael Dayan, who spoke at the demonstration, was applauded when she said that "the soldiers must be returned from Lebanon immediately." However, the crowd booed when she claimed that "the war was justified at its onset."

For those who don't know Israeli pedigree, Yael Dayan is the daughter of Moshe Dayan, hero of the 1948 and 1956 wars and defense minister in the 1967 war. And if you think he's rolling over in his grave, think again and go read this post from six months ago.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:52 AM