Settlers in Jerusalem protest
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jerusalem (AP) - The escalating conflict between Israel's government and Jewish settlers spilled over yesterday to Jerusalem, where police used water cannon and horses to disperse several hundred jeering demonstrators.
The demonstrators, protesting against the arrest earlier in the day of two settler organisers, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Nadia Matar, locked arms and marched on the Jerusalem jail where the two had been held.
Police pushed them back and four officers on horseback charged into the crowd, batons swinging. Protesters screamed "Fascists" and "police state", and struck at the kicking horses with flag sticks and their bare hands. Ten protesters were detained, and several were injured.
When the angry protesters refused to leave, police brought out a water cannon truck and sprayed the crowd. The demonstration finally broke up after police said Riskin and Matar had been taken to a Tel Aviv jail.
The two leaders were arrested yesterday morning in a protest at Dagan Hill, 20 miles south of Jerusalem on the West Bank, where settlers and Israeli troops have clashed every day this week. In a now familiar scene, police and soldiers grappled with settlers, including women and children, and carried them off to buses.
Hundreds of settlers, angry at the Israeli government's plans to turn over parts of the occupied West Bank to Palestinian control, have been setting up makeshift neighbourhoods on barren hillsides in the West Bank in an effort to stake claim to the land. Settlers camped on two other West Bank hilltops near the settlements of Beit El and Kedumim last night, setting the stage for more clashes..
The Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, called the protests "an attempt to create a rift in the nation" and said the settlers were endangering their own security by diverting the very troops assigned to protect them.
"We are at the beginning of a period where an attempt will be made to violate law and order ... and set up fictitious settlements," he said. "We will enforce the law without hesitation."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments