Police violence against children and women in Jaffa
Yousef (12 years old) and Ahmed (14 years old) were playing with a toy gun next to their home in Gorki street, a dead end alley in the center of Jaffa, this afternoon. In Jaffa, close to the Jewish holiday of Purim, all toy-stores sell these guns, wildly popular with young boys who use them to shoot small colourful pellets and have fun.
Fourteen year old Ahmed broke his leg a while ago and walks with difficulty due to the heavy cast enveloping it.
Their little brothers stood around, in the hope of be allowed to join the game. A police car came by and the policeman shouted something at the boys who ran off, into their home.
Yousef's pregnant mum was playing with her youngest child, his grandmother taking care of things in the home, as was his 13 year old sister, Dunya. A few seconds after the boys had entered the home, the police burst in and started beating both 12 year old Yousef and 14 year old Ahmed, who fell due to his plaster cast. One of the policemen jumped on the plaster cast.
The mother intervened and got hit, falling on her pregnant belly.
Thirteen year old Dunya stared screaming and was hit as well, she fell, scratching her face.
Yousef was taken into the hospital, his head bloody and painful. Ahmed was taken into arrest. We just learned Ahmed has a bad asthma attack but is still under arrest, it is unclear if he will be taken to the hospital, as he is still under arrest.
Yousef and his mum have been released from hospital in the mean time, with concussion and wounds to the face, the pregnancy is OK.
Yousef's little 8 year old brother, who witnessed it all, has not stopped crying since the attack and is very upset.
Posts
10 comments:
am ignorant of how the police act over there but hitting everyone? Is that a normal occurance?
It was not, but lately there have been many occurrences of police violence against civilians in Jaffa
This is not a first time event.
We have started suspecting (and it is a suspicion, we are not certain) someone from "high up" has given instructions "tp keep them down" opr something like that
It is not that I don't believe the story; it is that I doubt that if I gave you two hours you could not have come up with a sadder episode. You must admit that when one looks upon a blog such as this (vehemently dedicated to a cause) a healthy skepticism should be employed: 'Fell on her pregnant belly, ignored youth asthma attacks, police jumping on a 14 year olds broken leg, merciless child beatings, face scratching and an 8 year old scarred for life' all in the same story? And all stemming from children playing in the street? Find me the police report, is that possible? Under what charge was the young boy taken into custody? Although youth files may be closed. This is just too utterly fantastic. I am still open minded, provide more evidence that this actually happened. Even if the police report states that the police entered the house and the child slipped on a banana peel the story gains more plausibility.
It is not that I don't believe the story; it is that I doubt that if I gave you two hours you could not have come up with a sadder episode. You must admit that when one looks upon a blog such as this (vehemently dedicated to a cause) a healthy skepticism should be employed: 'Fell on her pregnant belly, ignored youth asthma attacks, police jumping on a 14 year olds broken leg, merciless child beatings, face scratching and an 8 year old scarred for life' all in the same story? And all stemming from children playing in the street? Find me the police report, is that possible? Under what charge was the young boy taken into custody? Although youth files may be closed. This is just too utterly fantastic. I am still open minded, provide more evidence that this actually happened. Even if the police report states that the police entered the house and the child slipped on a banana peel the story gains more plausibility.
I wonder how many comments you've not given approval.
I gave it several hours, visited the family in the hospital, saw the medical records, spoke to the police spokesperson, , and am in contact with the lawyer who is following the case as it goes through "Mahash", the department that investigates complaints against the police.
I visited the family at their home and contacted a professional in order to talk to the little boy.
Ofcourse if you prefer not to believe, i really don't care very much.
There are a lot of people who prefer to close their eyes.
Moreover, in Israel you do not need to be charged in order to be taken for an investigation. The police can hold you for aeveral hours,
Children up to 12 are not criminally responsible, which means that they cannot be charged in court.
But they can be investigated and they are.
"Anonymous" wonders how many comments i publish or not.
Fact is, 98%. I tend not to publish abusive or insulting comments.
During the Gaza war i stopped publishing the comments of the "organized group commenters".
I did so after i checked if the same wording of comments appeared elsewhere (google's kool tool for that) and after i openly wrote i would start doing so, as it became obvious these people were an organized bunch of mega-commenter and the discourse with them was not leading anywhere.
But if it is the same anonymous of the previous comment (that's the problem with these cowards, they don't identify) then he or she will probably not believe me in any case.
So why ask?
Which raises the question why would someone ask questions if he or she will; not believe - a priori- in the answer. But then' maybe i is not the same commenter
"...why would someone ask questions if he or she will; not believe - a priori- in the answer." Broad brush stroke, you don't know me. When I receive empirical evidence I don't throw it out the window. I don't look to prove a side right, I let the facts do that. Empirical evidence and experience are all that really matter, and it would be irresponsible to not take them seriously. Why didn't you previously state all that 'valuable' information in the original post? Isn't it your duty to provide all the useful facts of the situation upon which you are reporting? What does it matter if I post as "Anonymous" or not? That is not a sufficient reason to label me as a coward. Would you respond differently if I didn't post anonymously?
one of the problems with anonymous commenters who ask for answers and actually expect to get them is that i do not know if i am engaged in an ongoing discourse with the same person or not.
as a result there is no true option for continuity of the dialogue
The fact that you are committed to bettering your community and shining light on 'corruption' is more than commendable. That being said, this blog isn't exactly exploding with comments which means it is not too difficult to have a continual discussion. Your premise is sound, however, taking this comment thread into consideration I would have to disagree with the latter argument. We’ve had a discussion, true you don’t know if I am the same person, but it is not that difficult to tell (but your argument is clearly stronger than mine so I shall change my ways…*labeling anonymous posters as cowards has the potential to incite non-rational dialogue which is the opposite of your mission, I think). ------- I've been walking around Jaffa for the last 3 days because I love the atmosphere (whether you think I should or not). I'm sure that I do not taste the 'real flavor' of Jaffa, but I volunteer 10 hours a week there and am really trying to get a feel for the community. As a result, I am open to any knowledge that will help me in that. I’m a Christian college student by the way.
Post a Comment