Riots erupted Monday outside the Israeli police national headquarters in Jerusalem over the death of an Israeli teen, who was killed in a car accident during a police chase after being caught throwing rocks at Palestinians in the West Bank.
Protesters hurled rocks and even ambushed passing vehicles belonging to Arab citizens, shattering several windshields. One of the drivers tried to make his way through the crowd of mostly ultra-Orthodox protesters and almost ran over a demonstrator.
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Police and protesters clash in front of the national police headquarters in Jerusalem
(Photo: Gil Yochanan)
Several Arab youths from the nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood started lobbing rocks at demonstrators in response. Tit-for-tat stone-throwing ensued between the parties and subsided shortly after.
Some protesters held banners that read, "Revenge now" and shouted "murderers" at police officers at the scene. At least 23 demonstrators were arrested.
Ahuvya Sandak, 17, from the West Bank outpost of Bat Ayin, was killed during a police chase Monday afternoon after he and four other people had been caught hurling rocks at Palestinian cars near the city of Ramallah. The other suspects were lightly injured in the accident.
Sandak and his friends were members of the Hilltop Youth - young extremist settlers who set up unauthorized settlement outposts and create friction with the Palestinians who live in the West Bank.
Other passengers claimed that the undercover vehicle in which police were traveling, hit them in the back. Photos from the scene showed the vehicle Sandak was in, had been damaged in the front.
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Protesters block and smash car windows during a demonstration in front of the national police headquarters in Jerusalem
The Department for Internal Investigations launched an prob into the conduct of the officers who were involved in the accident.
Meanwhile, far-right activist Baruch Marzel spoke at the protest and demanded a commission of inquiry be established to examine the circumstances that led to Sandak's death.
"The incitement against the righteous on the hills ended today in murder, cold-blooded murder by policemen who are taught on a daily basis to violate the rights of these boys, and now they have murdered one and wounded the rest and continue to commit their crimes," Marzel said. "A commission of inquiry must be set up to investigate their conduct towards the hilltop youth."