A Magen David Adom (MDA) ambulance driver reported at least two incidents of severe violence against Jewish worshippers at the hands of Police in Jerusalem's Old City today.
The
driver spoke with Arutz-7 on the condition of anonymity. At around 8:30
AM, the driver said, a 50-year-old hareidi-religious man, having just finished
prayers at the Western Wall (Kotel), approached the police station at the
back of the Wall plaza. Hundreds of police and special counter-terror units
were assembled there in expectation of disturbances and to prevent Jews
from ascending the Temple Mount. The man said to several of the policemen,
"Why are you helping throw Jews out of their homes?" "Then," the ambulance
driver continued, "about ten policemen, including members of the special
Yassam unit, pounced on him. They beat him and forced him into the back
room of the station. Eventually the man, who takes medicine for a heart
condition, was taken to hospital with severe stomach pains." Another police
attack targeted a resident of Morag, in Gush Katif, who had come to Jerusalem
for the Temple Mount prayer event. At around12:30 PM, as he was walking
to the Kotel, he was detained by police, having his arm twisted to the
extent that his wrist may be seriously fractured. So reports the driver.
The victim was thrown into an unmarked car and brought to the main police
station near the Jaffa Gate, known as the Kishleh. There, the driver recounted,
he was refused a medic and was choked by chief investigator Yoram Solomon,
leaving abrasions and swelling on the man's neck neck. He was also kicked
in the lower back. "We also found abrasions on his upper arms and bruises
on his face," the driver told Arutz-7. "He was eventually taken to Bikur
Cholim Hospital, but the call for an ambulance was made by a bystander,
and when MDA called the police to ascertain the location, they denied the
presence of anyone wounded in their station. Eventually MDA personnel arrived
at the scene and the police were forced to admit they had a wounded man
inside." The driver said that he wanted his identity withheld, not due
to fear of police intimidation, but because he needs to be on the scene
to continue to treat the Jews randomly assaulted throughout the day.
Published: 16:59 April 10, 2005
Russian version