Israeli police attacked mourners carrying Shirin Abu Akleh’s coffin in East Jerusalem on Friday. Credit … Maya Levin / Associated Press
JERUSALEM – Israeli police on Friday attacked mourners during a funeral procession for a prominent Palestinian-American journalist killed this week in the occupied West Bank, forcing grave-bearers to almost drop the coffin.
The video shows police in Jerusalem beating and kicking gravediggers carrying the coffin containing the body of journalist Shirin Abu Akleh, hitting other mourners with batons and forcing a man to step on the ground. During the turmoil, the tombstones were pushed back, causing them to briefly lose control of one end of the coffin.
The incident took place in front of a hospital in East Jerusalem, where mourners had gathered to take the coffin of Mrs. Abu Akle, a Christian, to a nearby church for her funeral.
It was one of several spasms of tension during a severe afternoon as riot police in several places in East Jerusalem confronted crowds mourning, waving Palestinian flags and chanting Palestinian slogans. Israel considers East Jerusalem part of its capital, but is populated mainly by Palestinians, and much of the international community considers it occupied territory.
The funeral procession lasted about a minute and there was a tense confrontation between police and mourners, in which at least one empty plastic bottle was thrown at police.
Police then rushed to the coffin, waving batons and kicking the mourners. As police advanced, mourners threw shells, including what looked like sticks, and officers threw what looked like stunning and smoke grenades.
In a statement, Israeli police said they had “taken enforcement measures” after some mourners began chanting “nationalist motives” and after officers warned the crowd. While the coffin was taken out of the hospital, police said, they were “forced to act” because “the rebels started throwing stones at police”.
Police later released a video showing an empty plastic bottle and two other bottle-shaped objects thrown at police in the run-up to the gravediggers, and a separate undated video showing several stones on the ground. There was no clear indication of when or how the stones reached this place.
Ms. Abu Akle was shot dead Wednesday morning in the occupied West Bank during an Israeli attack on the city of Jenin. Witnesses said she was killed by an Israeli soldier.
The Israeli army said on Friday that while Ms Abu Akle may have been mistakenly killed by Israeli fire, her initial investigation suggested she may also have been hit by a Palestinian gunman.
On Thursday, Israeli police warned Ms. Abu Akle’s family to display “flags and slogans” at the funeral, said Ahmad Tibi, a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament’s Knesset.
At one point during the funeral, a man holding a wreath stood between the tomb bearers and the police. Later, when the black hearse carrying her coffin slowly made its way through the crowd, an Israeli police officer tore three Palestinian flags from the vehicle and threw them to the ground, a video shows.
The church bells in the Old Town rang as the mourners chanted, “With our souls, with our blood, we sacrifice for you, Shirin.
A spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declined to comment, as well as a spokeswoman for Israeli Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev, who is monitoring police.
The funeral was attended by thousands of people, and came the day after the state memorial service in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Grieving, they stood in the courtyard of the Palestinian Authority’s presidential headquarters to praise and say goodbye to a man considered by many Palestinians to be an innovative journalist.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas awarded her the Star of Jerusalem, also known as the Quds Star. One of the highest honors the Palestinian president can give is traditionally awarded to ministers, ambassadors and members of parliament. Mr Abbas described Ms Abu Akleh as a “martyr for truth and free speech”.
She was later taken to be buried in the Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion, next to her parents.
Did Yazbek contribute to reports from Nazareth, Israel, and Iyad Abu Hweila of Gaza.
– Patrick Kingsley and Raja Abdulrahim
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