Sunday, October 20, 2013
Elder of Ziyon
From Ammon News, October 9:
Last Thursday, October 3rd, at approximately 7:00 p.m., a conflict occurred in Gaza Camp, eight kilometers outside of Jerash, between several residents of the camp and the adjacent Al Hadada neighborhood to the west.Here's video:
The tribal altercation between the two parties escalated into a full lockdown of the area by Jordanian police in order to control the combatants. Eyewitnesses reported that Jordanian residents of Al Hadada vacated the area, the violence shifted between Jordanian police forces and Palestinian residents of Gaza Camp.
Camp residents threw rocks at the police and demanded that they cease their occupation of the main street, to which the police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. A number of stores and cars were looted and burned as a result of the initial clash. Fighting continued between police and residents, with the Jordanian Police forces employing tear gas and rubber bullets both on the main street and within residential areas until 4:00 a.m.
The police presence intensified on Friday morning with the addition of armed trucks and armed personal carriers. Local businesses were not permitted to open, and checkpoints were set up at the camp entrances, where officers did not allow those without ID cards to enter the camp.
Skirmishes between anti-riots police and residents of Gaza Camp resumed again at 12:15 p.m., nearly twelve hours after the original conflict between residents of Al Hadada and Gaza Camp had ended. An eyewitness said that the afternoon prayer at Abu Bakir mosque was interrupted by tear gas, and worshippers were driven the main street. At several times, police entered the residential streets with tear gas launchers, riot shields, and rubber bullets, engaging those who refused to go indoors.
By 10:30 p.m. Friday evening, the fighting mostly ceased. Eyewitnesses reported that the police limited their presence to the easternmost section of the camp, but continued to arrest those found out on the streets.
Police cordoned Gaza Camp by this past weekend lasted approximately forty hours. No casualties were confirmed, but many residents were injured by the officers' fire. The tear gas also caused a significant amount of discomfort as it spread inside residential homes throughout the day and a half long conflict. Spent canisters of tear gas found in the camp indicate that they were deployed after their expiration date.
Fire and damage was also inflicted upon the infrastructure and properties within the camp.
“Police cars have returned to the camp every day this week,” a source within the camp stated today. “They are still arresting more people.”
While only 14 arrests have been confirmed, residents have claimed at least 20 have been detained, with some estimates as high as 100. The current charges include assault of police officers and the destruction of property.
Apparently, no "pro-Palestinian human rights" groups bothered to go to the camp to act as human shields against the Jordanian occupiers.
Residents of the Gaza/Jerash camp are not citizens of Jordan. Although they have lived within Jordan's borders for over 45 years, they cannot become citizens, they cannot freely travel, and they are not tried in civilian but in military court, from which nine of them were released today after being held for over two weeks in custody.
There are two separate double standards here, both on how Jordan treats its Palestinian Arabs who originated from Gaza as well as how Jordanian police are not criticized by groups that pretend to be pro-Palestinian for their riot control methods.
But, as Meryl Yourish likes to say, it is Israel Double Standard Time, which occurs every day of the week that ends in a "y."
