Cellular Antenna Vandalism Sparks Riots and Police Back-Lash
by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 11. 6.07
It's kind of old news, but the events were unfolding like a stack of dominoes and we didn't know where to start.
Early last week, young male residents from Peki'in (a Druse village in the north of Israel) decided to take the law into their own hands. An unusual number of people in the village were getting cancer and they blamed the antenna. They wanted it removed. We can assume that they contacted the authorities and no one listened to them, which is pretty much what happens here in Israel.
Next. Things got ugly (real ugly) when the police came to investigate. A riot started and bullets were shot at the youth when they tried to throw cinder blocks on the police officers' heads. A border police woman was held hostage and released only when some of the young men held in police custody were let go.
Acts of violence continued to spread throughout the community; police feared another Intifada could break out; homes were vandalized; road blocks and surveillance was put in place.
Moral of the story: If you decide to take environmental matters into your own hands, do not get caught. And if you do, it might be a good idea to negotiate with the police.
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"when they tried to throw cinder blocks on the police officers' heads"
Maybe the moral is to not do this?
Well, the fact that they are a minority group in Israel also did not help their dealing with the police.