Police sowing horror, haredim say

Despite the protests, demonstrations and petitions, the gay pride parade is still scheduled to take place Thursday afternoon in Jerusalem.

Leaders of the haredi community in the city are furious with the parade's organizers, and no less furious with the police, who are allowing the march to take place, and according to haredi leaders have been picking on the strictly-orthodox sector.

The police claim that no collective punishment was carried out in haredi neighborhoods.

Jewish newspaper "Yated Naaman" published a line of accusations against the police in an article titled: Horror in Jerusalem.

The newspaper accuses the police of "sowing doom and destruction, dangerous, harsh, violence toward hundreds and thousands of residents of the Mea Shearim neighborhood and Beit Israel.

"They are beating and trampling bystanders mercilessly, and destroying and damaging private homes, cruelly driven by vengeance and illegal collective punishment."

A resident of Beit Israel neighborhood told Ynet that "the police come and spray water into the houses. It's not just any water; it's special-colored water that destroys everything it comes into contact with.

"An 80-year-old paralyzed widow lives here, and panicked from a water hose spraying her apartment. All the windows in the house were smashed and great amounts of water ruined her apartment. A groom on his wedding day, fully dress in his wedding suit, sustained a splash of blue water that ruined his outfit."

Clashes with police (photo: activestills.org)

Following recent confrontations between haredim and police, the Betzedek organization, backed by the American Agudath Israel organization, has decided to file an urgent petition to the High Court of Justice for a show cause order against Jerusalem Police.

The petitioners, who include residents whose homes were damaged from water hoses, demand that the term "weapon" be applied to the water cannon vehicles, and that the use of these vehicles be limited.

"This petition is against the wrongful use of the purpose of the water cannon vehicles in order to punish whole communities, without distinguishing between sinner or innocent. The water cannon vehicles cause damage to innocent people and their property," the petitioners claim.

Alongside the petition, representatives of the haredi community distributed a notice at synagogues urging residents who have been affected by police activity to come forward and testify before the legal forum for victims of police crimes.

The haredi community plans to collect testimonies and file a complaint to the police investigation division in the future.

Senior police sources told Ynet, "When requested, the Jerusalem Police will respond via the prosecutor's office and the High Court of Justice. The use of water cannon vehicles came after blocks, metals and stones were thrown at officers entering Mea Shearim in order to disperse the haredi rioters. Stones were thrown from rooftops and even hit some of the officers. The police were forced to use the water hoses in order to disperse the rioters."

Haredim in the Mea Shearim neighborhood continued their protests over the pride parade Wednesday night and threw cardboard boxes, stones, and explosives, and even set tires on fire and rolled them toward the police forces.

No one was injured, and two of the rioters were taken in for questioning.