Four policemen, young girl hurt in Damascus Gate rioting

Twenty rioters were arrested as some 1,000 Arabs threw stones and bottles at police.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Four policemen and a young girl were injured Monday when Arabs rioted at Damascus Gate during the Muslim holiday known as Al Isra’a Wal Miraj.

While approximately 10,000 Muslims went to pray on the Temple Mount in celebration of the prophet Muhammed’s night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, about 1,000  gathered outside the biggest entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem. They chanted anti-Israel slogans,and threw water bottles, rocks and other objects at police on the scene, lightly injuring four officers who were treated on site.

The authorities responded with riot-dispersal methods that included spraying the mostly young crowd with water cannons mounted on slow-moving trucks and firing stun grenades.

One 11-year-old girl was allegedly hit in the face by a grenade and was taken to Hadassah Medical Center with moderate injuries. Palestinian sources claim the girl was a deaf, special-needs student. Police said they would investigate the incident.

Some 20 rioters were arrested, including a teenaged girl whom the rioters claim was injured during her arrest. She can be seen on a video clip posted to social media hitting policemen and then continuing to struggle fiercely against the officers who are trying to lead her away.

At one point she is pushed to the ground and slapped, and several seconds later she can be seen being half carried up some stairs in a headlock as she continues flailing at them.

The police responded to the video by saying it only showed part of what had happened “after hours of intermittent riots at the scene.”

“After the suspect, 16, started attacking officers violently…the officers used force during her arrest to neutralize her violent resistance in order to complete the arrest and prevent further injury to policemen,” they said in a statement.

Damascus Gate is the site of frequent rioting by Arabs in Jerusalem.