Dozens of people demonstrated this morning outside the Jerusalem District Court, which had convened over a petition filed by two Palestinian families from the Silwan neighborhood against their imminent eviction. Two demonstrators were detained by police for disrupting public order. The court session ended without a ruling. The judges said they will rule on the matter after the High Court rules on similar cases that have been presented to it recently.
In parallel, the Knesset today held a session on the ongoing violence in mixed Jewish-Arab cities. Reportedly, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana and Arab legislator (Labor) Ibtisam Mara'ana exchanged words. Ohana was quoted as saying that "some of Israel’s Arab citizens turned weapons against Jews, against police officers, against citizens." Mara’ana responded, "Stop inciting and do your job." Ohana also said that "five synagogues were torched, but no one torched a mosque; Jewish citizens were lynched and fired at." To that, Mara’ana reminded him that an Arab citizen was killed in the city of Lod. Ohana announced at the same session that the reserve unit of Israel’s border police will be reinforced and thousands of extra police officers will be recruited in the coming three years.
