Tag : Leh

Jerusalem:  Israeli police decided on Saturday to investigate the conduct of their officers who attacked the funeral of a slain Al Jazeera journalist, causing mourners to briefly drop the casket during the ceremony in Jerusalem. Police forces beat pallbearers with batons at the start of the funeral procession on Friday of Shireen Abu Akleh, who witnesses say was killed by Israeli troops Wednesday during a raid in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military says Palestinian gunmen were in the area and it's not clear who fired the fatal bullet. The shocking scenes at the funeral, and the death of the 51-year-old Palestinian-American journalist, drew worldwide condemnation and calls for investigations, including from the United States and the United Nations. In a statement Saturday, the Israeli police said their commissioner has instructed an investigation that would be concluded in the coming days. “The Israel Police supports its police officers, but as a professional organisation that seeks to learn and improve, it will also draw lessons from the incident,” the statement said. The police say they used force as hundreds of “rioters tried to sabotage the ceremony and harm the police.” The attack on the funeral added to a sense of grief and outrage that has followed the death of Abu Akleh, a veteran journalist and a household name across the Arab world. They also illustrated the deep sensitivities over east Jerusalem — which is claimed by both Israel and the Palestinians and has sparked repeated rounds of violence. Ahead of the burial, a large crowd gathered to escort her casket from an east Jerusalem hospital to a Catholic church in the nearby Old City. Many of the mourners held Palestinian flags, and the crowd began shouting: “We sa ...