Various Palestinian factions on Wednesday condemned the Israeli police use of force to disperse a Palestinian protest against right-wing Israeli activists in the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, Xinhua reported.
Spokesman of Fatah party Ahmed Assaf, in a press statement, condemned "the Israeli police use of suppressive force against the Palestinian citizens of Umm al-Fahm who demonstrated against Jewish groups calling for banning the Islamic movement in Israel."
"The Israeli security forces, which deployed 1,500 police men, were supposed to prevent Jewish extremists from reaching Umm al- Fahm city. The extremists launched a provocative march that aimed at dragging the whole region to a new cycle of violence," said Assaf.
The city of Umm al-Fahm, the second Arab city after Nazareth in Israel, was occupied by the Israeli forces on May 22, 1949. Many Palestinians still live in it as Israeli citizens.
The clashes erupted shortly after the Israeli right-wing activists entered the city, the Radio said. The activists, none of them injured, stayed for 30 minutes and called for outlawing the Islamic movement in Israel.
Several Palestinians were injured and arrested during protests and violence between the Israeli police forces and the Palestinian citizens of Israel who tried to prevent far right-wing activists from entering the city, according to Israel Radio.
The Radio said two Arab members of the Israeli Knesset ( parliament), Afo Ighbareyeh and Hanin Zo'bi, were also injured during the clashes.
Meanwhile, spokesman of Islamic Hamas movement Fawzi Barhoum said in a press statement that the incidents "is a clear provocation to the emotions of the Palestinian people on their lands." Barhoum called on the Palestinians in Umm al-Fahm and all Israel "to keep confronting by all means the occupation forces."
The Israeli cabinet approved on Oct. 11 the law of amending the Israeli nationality, which demand an Israeli citizen to show loyalty to a democratic Jewish state. The approval of the legislation bill outraged the Palestinians.
Abdel Hamid Abu Jayab, member of the left-wing Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) noted that the Israeli government "is fully responsible for the incidents in Umm al-Fahm by protecting the extreme Jewish groups," warning that such confrontations and Israeli policies "would trigger popular outrage and even the third Intifada (uprising)."
The Police commander of northern Israel Major General Shimon Kurin told the Israel Radio that the Israeli policemen were obliged to use force to disperse the protestors and detain eight Arab demonstrators, adding that four policemen were injured by stones.