Ma'an News Agency
November 10, 2010 - 1:00am
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=332486


Confrontations erupted in an East Jerusalem town under siege for three days and facing a campaign of repeated Israeli police raids.

A 50-strong Israeli force raided the northern entrance of Al-Isawiya on Wednesday morning and another entered through the south, onlookers said.

Luba As-Samry, a spokeswoman for the Israeli police, said an Israeli police officer was lightly injured during confrontations on the northern entrance of the village. She added that four young men were detained for throwing stones at the police.

As-Samry said the police would continue the campaign to impose “security and order” in the area.

The villagers expressed their displeasure with the campaign and the siege imposed on the village saying that the actions of the Israeli police amounted to collective retaliation and harassment that targets mass protests.

Wednesday was the second day of clashes in a row, with violence erupting Tuesday when Israeli municipal workers preparing to set up car safety spot check road barricades were pelted with stones.

Three days of car safety checks in the neighborhood, which residents called "provocative," increased tensions in the area as Israeli municipal officials stopped cars at road blocks, performing maintenance checks and writing tickets for vehicles deemed unfit for the road, creating long delays.

Residents questioned the use of the spot checks, citing mandatory maintenance tests every year for licenses to drive in Israel. Despite having passed the tests, locals said, most cars were said to have failed the spot check and were mandated to have service performed on them.




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