Tuesday, March 31, 2020

I read this report from The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Palestinian Occupied Territories --- (not quoted in its entirety)
     "Despite the unprecedented health crisis requiring residents of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to take social isolation measures, the Israel Police have chosen . . .  to escalate their abuse . . . of Palestinians in East Jerusalem . . . Special Patrol officers invade the crowded neighborhood daily, more so on weekends, for no apparent reason and initiate friction with the residents. In the confrontations, police act violently, firing sponge rounds, tear gas canisters and stun grenades. They also close off the entrances to the neighborhood. During these incursions, the police arrest residents, mostly minors, and take them to a police station where they are interrogated alone. Most minors spend all night in custody.
     Yet at this sensitive time, such conduct exposes residents to substantial, completely unnecessary health risks, as it encourages gatherings and forces arrested residents, including many minors, to leave home and be around strangers.
     The police conduct jeopardizes public safety (including the health of the police officers) and violates the medical guidelines on social isolation. The fact that Israeli authorities disregard the lives of residents, including children and teens, is not new. Yet continuing and even escalating such conduct during the Carona-19 pandemic is an especially appalling manifestation of this policy." (end article)

     I wonder what will happen when COVID-19 spreads into the Gaza Strip?

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