The funeral procession of the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh was attacked by Israeli forces on Friday with the police accusing the mourners of ‘disrupting public order’. The police attacked the people attending the procession outside the St Joseph’s hospital in East Jerusalem with batons which resulted in the people carrying the coffin to drop it. According to the footage accessed by AFP, a number of people had to be taken to the hospital after sustaining a number of injuries.
According to the footage, a number of people in the procession were also holding Palestinian flags in public – something that is forbidden by the Israel authorities. The police also pointed the flags as a reason behind the attack and said that the protestors were trying to disrupt the peace in the area.
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A senior Palestinian figure, Hanan Ashrawi, tweeted that “savage Israeli ‘special forces’ viciously attack the funeral procession bearing the coffin” of Abu Aqleh as it left St Joseph’s hospital.
“The inhumanity [of] Israel is on full display,” he added according to The Guardian.
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The Israeli police also released video evidence that showed an officer warning the crowd outside the hospital. “If you don’t stop these chants and [Palestinian] nationalistic songs we will have to disperse you using force and we won’t let the funeral take place,” the officer said in the video.
“As the coffin was about to exit the hospital, stones began to be thrown at officers from the hospital’s plaza, and the officers were forced to use riot dispersal means,” the police added.
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