'Day of rage' on Israel's highways, police admit they weren't just Paintball guns
There have been some sporadic attempts to block roads in Israel today in response to Monday's violent attack on Jewish residents of a Samaria outpost on Monday, but nowhere near the 'day of rage' reported here.
Settlers tried to block a main highway and burned tyres at the entrance to Jerusalem, launching a "Day of Rage" to protest police action during an outpost demolition, officials said.
"There were a number of attempts to block the Jerusalem road. Police quickly arrived and dispersed them," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
In one incident, a handful of protesters tried to block the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway at a point halfway between the two cities, while others put burning tyres in the road at the entrance to Jerusalem, he said.
Settlers are holding a day of protests following clashes at the Havat Gilad outpost near Nablus which broke out early on Monday when police came to demolish a caravan, a tent and another half-built structure at the site.
Meanwhile, police have admitted that they weren't just playing Paintball on Monday.
Ending speculation as to what type of ammunition had been fired against settlers during the demolition of three structures at the Gilad Farm outpost earlier this week, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told the Knesset on Wednesday that plastic bullets had been used.
He spoke at the Knesset plenum in response to questions posed on the incident by MK Yariv Levin (Likud).
Until Wednesday, police had insisted that paintballs had been used against those at Gilad Farm who had tried to prevent the demolitions early on Monday morning.
Settlers in turn had described three types of bullets, plastic-coated, rubber and plastic-coated- rubber-bullets, when speaking to the media.
On Wednesday, settlers also spoke of plastic bullets. It is the first time that such ammunition has been used against them.
At the Knesset, Aharonovitch explained that Border Police operating at Gilad Farm had used a type of weapon, known as FN303, which use air pressure to shoot out plastic bullets that break on impact. According to the Internet, the FN303 is a “less-lethal automatic launcher.”
In describing the bullet used, Aharonovitch cautioned that a routine investigation into the incident was still under way and as a result not all the details were known about the incident. He added that a report of the incident would be given to the police inspector-general.
The FN303 is a standard weapon used to disperse demonstrations, Aharonovitch said. Police have used it against demonstrators in Umm el-Fahm, Wadi Ara and other places, he said.
It is designed to protect security forces while at the same time insuring minimum harm to the rioters, he added.
Jerusalem police arrest 9th grade immigrant who speaks no Hebrew
Our police may not be as bad as Iran's, but civil rights here aren't what they are in the US either.
Jerusalem police violently broke up a demonstration at the city's entrance on Monday, and a 9th grade immigrant from Spain was arrested. As of Tuesday afternoon, his whereabouts are unknown.
One eyewitness said that police hit a rabbi who was only standing on the sidewalk at the entrance to Jerusalem. Police violently arrested approximately 10 young teenagers from the Mercaz HaRav High School in Jerusalem and three ninth graders from a school in Beit El, in Samaria.
The Spanish immigrant speaks broken Hebrew and his friends are afraid of his fate at the hands of police. They said that no one knows what has happened to him and the other youth who were arrested.
Besides the protests at the entrance to Jerusalem, Women in Green activists fanned out through Judea and Samaria at night and pasted hundreds of stickers that stated in Hebrew, “Bibi, in Chavat Gilad, you have shot yourself in the leg.”
Tuesday morning, the posters were in full view of motorists as nationalist leaders try to reawaken supporters who have become accustomed to demolitions and an erosion of former “red lines” in talks with the Palestinian Authority.
The catalyst for this incident was a border police raid on Gilad's Farm, a Samarian outpost, at 4:00 am on Tuesday, which I blogged here.
Israeli police open fire on Jewish civilians, wound 15; UPDATED with new video
The most amazing thing about this story is that it is not even being reported on Israel Radio. Perhaps that isn't so amazing. It's no secret that Israel Radio is totally Leftist and hates the revenants (what some of you call 'settlers').
Israel's border police - who are largely made up of what is so delicately called 'minorities' (Bedouin and Druze) - shot rubber bullets and tear gas at revenants at Gilad's Farm during a raid that took place at 4:00 am on Monday. Gilad's Farm is an outpost that overlooks Route 60, the main North-South road through Samaria. It is just north of Geva Binyamin and Kochav Yaakov.
Setters claimed that Border Police forces shot rubber bullets and tear gas at them during the demolition of three structures at the unauthorized outpost of Gilad Farm in Samaria on Monday.
According to police, eight settlers were arrested during the clashes that broke out when they entered the outpost in a pre-dawn raid. Settlers claimed that 12 people were bruised by rubber bullets.
Police said they responded only after stones were thrown at them and they understood that a number of settlers had knives and instruments which could be used for stabbing.
Settlers have called for an immediate investigation into the incident. Police said they operated according to the rules of engagement, but they did not respond to the specific charges.
MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union), who was at Gilad Farm, claimed that Border Police pushed him to the ground. He added that he retrieved a rubber bullet from the scene.
Here's video of the incident - decide for yourselves.
Let's go to the videotape.
And for those of you who question whether they really used rubber bullets, over at the Muqata, Joe Settler has pictures of people who were wounded that were taken by Jameel (who was there).
UPDATE 12:07 PM
Israel Radio reports on its 12:00 newscast that the police claim they used paint bullets and not rubber bullets.
UPDATE 8:15 PM
Here's a longer version of the same video, now up on YouTube.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
There have been some sporadic attempts to block roads in Israel today in response to Monday's violent attack on Jewish residents of a Samaria outpost on Monday, but nowhere near the 'day of rage' reported here. 
