Policeman punches Haredi protester in Jerusalem
During Haredi demonstration blocking Jerusalem's Chords Bridge in protest of conscription law, cop confronting protesters caught on camera punching member of hardline Jerusalem Faction; protest showed violence on both sides, as Haredim smash bus window.
A police officer was caught on camera Monday beating an ultra-Orthodox protester during Haredi demonstrations against the IDF draft.
Monday's incident is another in an increasing number of incidents of police brutality against Haredi protesters captured on video.
The hardline Jerusalem Faction also took part in the day's violent outbreaks. Some of its members smashed a bus's window while also blocking the entrance to and exit from Jerusalem in the Chords Bridge area.
Elsewhere in the capital, members of the Haredi sector blocked the city's internal Highway 1 as well as the light rail's route in the area.
Haredim from the Jerusalem Faction have been protesting IDF conscription and blocking Jerusalem's main traffic arteries in recent weeks. Police, for their part, have attempted to restore order and reopen the blocked roads. In many cases, these opposing stances resulted in violent clashes between the two.
"They were acting not as protesters but as people looking for confrontations. There was certainly an escalation in the violence on display," said a police source.
Last Thursday, 120 Haredi protesters were arrested after lashing out at police. Thousands blocked the Shabbat Square, the International Congress Center junction and the Jaffa-Sarei Israel Streets junction.
They clashed with police, torched garbage bins, chanted "Death before conscription" and waved signs saying, "Israel Police, let us demonstrate without turning us disabled," referencing the disabled protests some Haredi leaders have complained received much lighter treatment from police.
