Israeli Border Police Deliberately Provoking Palestinians in East Jerusalem

Internal Reports Label Several Incidents 'Initiated Friction Activity'

by Jason Ditz

Related to a complaint filed with the Israeli Justice Ministry, reports out of the Israeli border police deployed in occupied East Jerusalem reveal that police in the department repeatedly, deliberately took actions designed to provoke a violent response from Palestinians to justify a further crackdown on them.

The attorney who filed the initial report noted he finally got 10 reports out of the area, and that they all noted police “initiated friction activity,” with police in the reports openly describing actions they took specifically to “create friction with the residents” of an Arab village in the area.

Israeli civil rights groups blasted the revelation, with one lawyer for such a group saying the actions totally contradict the role of police, and showed “a serious disregard for human life” in the occupied territories.

The complaint was initially filed based on a January 6 incident in which border police entered a village and shot a 12-year-old boy in the head with a sponge bullet, putting him in a coma. Police defended this action and others, insisting their actions “preserve the security and welfare of the public.”

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/07/12/israeli-border-police-deliberately-provoking-palestinians-in-east-jerusalem/