Geneva - Beth: The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory for Human Rights strongly condemned the Israeli police suppression of the demonstration in Umm al-Fahm, in protest against the escalation of violence and crime inside the city, noting that the attacks resulted in the injury and arrest of many peaceful demonstrators.

The Geneva-based Euro-Med Monitor said in a press statement today, Saturday, that the demonstration that took place yesterday, February 26, after Friday prayers in front of the municipality of Umm al-Fahm, headed on foot to the Israeli police station, to be confronted by police officers with violence and disproportionate use of force, as it was fired at Demonstrators had rubber bullets, tear gas, wastewater and sound bombs, in addition to attacking them with batons, which led to the injury of 11 civilians, one of them seriously, in addition to the arrest of 7 others.

The Euro-Med Monitor explained that the serious injury was to a young man named "Muhannad Mahajna" (30 years old), as he was hit in the head by a stun grenade that targeted him, which led to his immediate transfer to Afula Hospital and from there to Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

He added that the mayor of Umm al-Fahm, “Samir Mahamid,” and the deputy, “Yusef Jabareen,” were among the wounded, as a result of the Israeli police assault on them. Haemek in Afula to receive treatment.

The Euro-Med Monitor condemned the Israeli police's use of means of dispersing the demonstrations - as tools of killing and inflicting severe harm - in contravention of international standards, which is classified as a crime that holds its perpetrators accountable.

In a testimony documented by the Euro-Med Monitor team, to a relative of the wounded man, Muhannad Mahajna, he said: “Muhannad was hit in the head, specifically in the brain area, after the Israeli police threw a stun grenade on him from close range to be transported directly to Afula Hospital, and then transferred from Afula Hospital to a hospital. Rambam in Haifa. "

He added, "In Rambam Hospital, he underwent a brain surgery, and the doctors told us that they were able to control the bleeding, but he needed operations later to stop it permanently. And the hospital announced at eight in the evening that the surgery had ended, but explained that his condition was still serious." ".

The Israeli police also prevented journalists at the location from filming, as they approached the journalist “Anas Musa” to stop filming current events, and threatened him with withdrawing his press card, in another violation of freedom of journalism.

The Euro-Med Monitor indicated that the demonstrations in the city of Umm al-Fahm - continuing for the seventh week in a row - began on January 7, 2021, when a group of young activists called for them to protest the increase in murder and violence in the city due to what they described as the failure of the Israeli police to fight violence. And the crime, after the former mayor of Umm al-Fahm municipality, Suleiman Ighbariah, was shot and seriously injured, in addition to the occurrence of another crime in the town of Kafr Qara, near the city of Umm al-Fahm, in which the young man, Suleiman Masarweh, was killed.

The Observatory said that crimes in Arab towns inhabited by Palestinians inside Israel have increased since the beginning of this year, as at least 15 people have been killed so far, while the number of deaths during the past twenty years - since 2000 - has reached about 1,700.

For his part, the legal advisor at the Euro-Med Monitor, Tariq Abdel Razek, said: “The repeated weekly attacks by the Israeli police against the demonstrations in Umm al-Fahm indicate that the Israeli authorities are willing to continue the violence and escalation of crime against Palestinians living in Umm al-Fahm and Arab towns.”

He added, "The escalation of violence and crime, especially in the last five years, through killing in broad daylight, and killing in alleys and among people with the latest weapons, gives a clear indication of the Israeli authorities' intentional reluctance to confront them, especially since many of them were passing without the Israeli authorities moving a finger." .

At the end of its statement, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the Israeli authorities to stop all attacks against peaceful demonstrators and hold all those involved in these violations accountable, and urged them to meet the demands of the demonstrators by activating security oversight mechanisms in the Arab regions to prevent the spread of criminal gangs and the dangerous escalation of murder and violence crimes. The most severe punishments are imposed on perpetrators through fair and transparent trials.