OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 14 August — East Jerusalem yesterday was the scene of brutal assault by armed Israeli troops on Palestinian protesters for the second time in three days over the closure of Orient House, the Palestinian headquarters.
Between 200 and 400 activists were violently dispersed by a sea of Israeli police and border guards who formed a ring around Orient House, which is strongly associated with Palestinian aspirations.
Israel ratcheted up the tensions by closing the building early Friday in retaliation for a bombing attack the previous day in a west Jerusalem pizzeria that killed 15 people, plus the bomber.
Yesterday’s rally was marred by 10 arrests and the site of Israeli police officers confiscating Palestinian flags and tearing them, and protesters throwing stones in the city sacred to both Israelis and Arabs alike.
“The demonstration would have unfolded calmly, but the police were absolutely looking to scatter us,” Angie Zelter from Britain said amidst the seething crowd.
Palestinian anger had mounted over the weekend after the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s extreme right-wing dominated unity government declared the occupation of Orient House would be “for good.”
In the West Bank, 40 Israeli tanks and hundreds of troops moved to positions near the Palestinian-ruled town of Jenin, in what residents said appeared to be a military buildup.
Heavy gunbattles erupted across the West Bank late yesterday as Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen turned their weapons on each other.
A Palestinian man was reported to be lightly wounded in one such exchange in the northern West Bank.
Palestinian residents in Jenin reported seeing about 40 tanks, 400 soldiers, ambulances, food and water supplies move to an Israeli-controlled West Bank area about two kilometers from the Palestinian-ruled town.
Speculation had been rife that Israel would carry out a large-scale military strike in retaliation for last Thursday’s bombing, but it responded instead by flattening a Palestinian security building and seizing Orient House.
Israeli public radio said 12 people were arrested in the scuffles. Zelter said she went to the site yesterday with 20 other Europeans from a group espousing solidarity with the Palestinians. Alongside her, another European woman screamed in the face of a policeman: “No peace without justice for the Palestinians.”
Every time a protester took out a Palestinian flag, the police swiftly ripped it away and took the person into custody. Some of the protesters rained stones at the police, who fired back with stun grenades, thinning the ranks of the crowd.
As the crowd dispersed, Arab League spokeswoman and former Palestinian minister Hanan Ashrawi told reporters that “the more the Israelis pressure us, the more we will resist.”
Palestinian MP Hashem Azdjiyer also vowed: “This is the first stage in the battle of Jerusalem. We will return here all the days.”
Yesterday’s clash coincided with a general strike which paralyzed annexed East Jerusalem and all the Palestinian territories to protest against the closure and occupation of Orient House.
In Hebron, Palestinians buried an eight-year-old girl killed by Israeli troops on Sunday during a massive gunbattle in the heart of the town.
Israeli troops closed the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt early yesterday after a night of violence, the government said in a statement.
The decision was taken by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer after Palestinians shot at Israeli troops overnight, the government said.
