News

Federal official fires gun at pro-Palestine demonstrators following scuffle in LA

The conflict is lapping up on our shores. Yesterday afternoon in Los Angeles, there was a big pro-Israel rally and, across the street, a pro-Palestine rally. The demonstrations ended with a scuffle between the sides and a federal official firing a shot at pro-Palestine folks in a truck. No one was seriously hurt. Four men were reportedly arrested.

Reports vary, and there are videos above. The incident involved a skirmish between pro-Palestinian demonstrators holding a flag and pro-Israel demonstrators. When the pro-Palestinian flagholders drove off in a truck, a gun was fired at the truck, apparently by a Homeland Security official.

From the ABC affiliate:

A federal officer fired a shot Sunday during a rally on the Israeli conflict in Gaza outside a Federal Building in Westwood. No one was hit, but four men were detained.

In the afternoon, hundreds of pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinians demonstrated on opposite sides at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Veteran Avenue.

The men who were detained were traveling in a pickup truck. 

One of the men in the truck, who was not taken into custody, said he jumped out to retrieve a Palestinian flag that a demonstrator ripped from his friend’s hands and knocked to the ground…

“I was able to see the truck leaving and there was an officer had a gun toward the truck and he just fired toward the truck,” said Hany Refai, a protestor.

The LA Jewish Journal reports this morning that police arrested four men who held the flag, for allegedly initiating the scuffle:

A peaceful pro-Israel rally in front of the Federal Building in Westwood in West Los Angeles was interrupted late Sunday afternoon when three or four men wielding Palestinian flags arrived carrying long wooden sticks and alledgely attacked the pro-Israel demonstrators. The Los Angeles Police Department reported that more than 1,200 attended the rally.

But the Jordanian-American denied that the pro-Palestinian group started trouble, says the Jewish Journal:

There were five people riding in the truck, all Arabs living in Anaheim, according to one of them, Hany Rafai, who said he got out of the truck before the police stopped it. Rafai denied that they were hitting the pro-Israel rallyers. Rafai lives in both Jordan and Orange County.

The CBS affiliate says there were 2000 people at the pro-Israel “peace” rally. More like a war rally, though?

Following some of the pro-Israel supporters being allegedly hit with sticks, [KCAL’s Bobby] Kaple said “a melee ensued.”

The men reportedly jumped back into their truck and took off.

At this point, officers with Homeland Security approached the men.

A witness told Kaple one of the Homeland Security officers fired at the truck. No one was struck…

Gadi Schwartz, a TV reporter for NBC in LA, has a more neutral version of the incident on his twitter feed. He says that one of the arrested Palestinian-supporters is a US armed forces veteran. Here is more information from his feed:

39 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

LA, yesterday Paris. The storming/firebombing of Parisian Synagogues. I guess the protestors confused them with the Israeli Embassy.

Palestinians in Palestine attacked – Check
Palestinians in LA attacked – Check

‘Principiis obsta and Finem respice’
Too late now, every sector of the US is infected.
Incidents like this are just another symptom.

From Occupation to “Occupy”: The Israelification of American Domestic Security
by Max Blumenthal
Published Friday, December 2, 2011

New York – In October, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department turned parts of the campus of the University of California in Berkeley into an urban battlefield. The occasion was Urban Shield 2011, an annual SWAT team exposition organized to promote “mutual response,” collaboration and competition between heavily militarized police strike forces representing law enforcement departments across the United States and foreign nations.

At the time, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department was preparing for an imminent confrontation with the nascent “Occupy” movement that had set up camp in downtown Oakland, and would demonstrate the brunt of its repressive capacity against the demonstrators a month later when it attacked the encampment with teargas and rubber bullet rounds, leaving an Iraq war veteran in critical condition and dozens injured. According to Police Magazine, a law enforcement trade publication, “Law enforcement agencies responding to…Occupy protesters in northern California credit Urban Shield for their effective teamwork.”

Training alongside the American police departments at Urban Shield was the Yamam, an Israeli Border Police unit that claims to specialize in “counter-terror” operations but is better known for its extra-judicial assassinations of Palestinian militant leaders and long record of repression and abuses in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Urban Shield also featured a unit from the military of Bahrain, which had just crushed a largely non-violent democratic uprising by opening fire on protest camps and arresting wounded demonstrators when they attempted to enter hospitals. While the involvement of Bahraini soldiers in the drills was a novel phenomenon, the presence of quasi-military Israeli police – whose participation in Urban Shield was not reported anywhere in US media – reflected a disturbing but all-too-common feature of the post-9/11 American security landscape.

read more http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/occupation-%E2%80%9Cocc

the tap: When did the USA become Israel?
the-tap.blogspot.com/2014/02/usa-slowly-awakens-to-israelification.html Cached

Feb 21, 2014 – The expression “Israelification of America” was popularized by one of the USA’s top foreign policy experts, Andrew Bacevich of
ification of our American Police – Battelfield USA …
► 8:40► 8:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V21S83O7ttA Similar

Jul 6, 2013 – Uploaded by dauntless1100
9000 American Police Officers have been trained by Israeli security and intelligence officials. Hundreds of …
Boston …

How We Became Israel | The American Conservative
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/…/how-... Cached
Similar

The American Conservative
Loading…
Sep 10, 2012 – This “Israelification” of U.S. policy may prove beneficial for Israel. ….. nations towards militarist (police state) and top-heavy autocracies. Why is …

Mar 8, 2012 – The Real Rise Of The Police State: Deanna Spingola and Revolt of the Plebs’ Keith Johnson discuss the Israelification and militarization of …
Deputy Chief Michael Berkow, LAPD | JINSA Online
http://www.jinsa.org/…/deputy-chi... Cached
Similar

Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Loading…
SECURING AMERICA, STRENGTHENING ISRAEL … The LAPD has over 13,000 employees with approximately 9,300 sworn officers serving a city of 470 …
Lessons From Israel | JINSA Online
http://www.jinsa.org/…/lessons-isra... Cached

Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Loading…
Nov 1, 2002 – Irvine’s police chief is anxious to see his force mimic Israeli … Michael Berkow, police chief for more than one year, spent part of a recent trip to
What Were Los Angeles Police Doing in Israel? – Larry’s List …
http://www.truthdig.com/…/getting_fracked_isnt_as_fun_as_doing_th... Cached
Similar

Truthdig
Loading…
Feb 25, 2014 – Top LAPD officers took a trip to Israel, at least in part paid for by taxpayer money

LAPD bomb squad officers to train in Israel – Los Angeles …
lapd.com › News › Headlines
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Loading…
Mar 8, 2011 – Four Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) bomb squad technicians are visiting Israel to train with their counterparts in the Israeli National …
‘The USA is Israel’s bitch’
http://southeastasianews.org/usa_is_israels_bitch.html

ehttp://www.fracturednews.com/FN-pages/missile%20attack/missile-1.htmxpression “Israeli-Occupied Territories” normally refers to Palestine. But more and more Americans are speaking out about the “
Six die in LAPD missile attack; suspect escapes
An LAPD helicopter fired two missiles yesterday into a crowded intersection in South Central LA today, killing 6 and injured 23 in an attack on the vehicle of a suspected drug smuggler.
The target of the assassination attempt, Carlos Diaz, escaped with minor injuries, jumping from the Hummer moments before the first missile hit. A second missile followed within seconds, instantly killing Diaz’s bodyguard and driver, and a mother and child in the car.
Included among the casualties were an elderly Israeli couple, prompting Prime Minister Sharon to advise the LAPD that he was “troubled” by the attack, and questioning whether such actions really served to increase LA’s security.

Andrew Blankstein reports at the Times:

Over the weekend, the LAPD opened its emergency operations center in the wake of Hamas rocket attacks against Israel and the Jewish state’s bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip. The center will be staffed indefinitely on a round-the-clock basis, said LAPD Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger.
The center “acts as a clearinghouse,” says Paysinger, collecting information about the latest news related to the conflict and the reactions in Los Angeles, including “spontaneous protests” such as the one that took place Friday outside the Israeli Consulate on Wilshire Boulevard.

The “Level 1” activation means the department will be in a state of readiness, passing information between command staff, the area stations, city officials and other law enforcement agencies. But the increased footing means police will have an increased focus on critical sites throughout the area, as well as the possibility of clashes resulting from demonstrations.
Mayor Villaraigosa made a point of speaking in favor of Israel this afternoon at a press conference.

Israeli police chiefs to meet with LAPD | JPost | Israel News
http://www.jpost.com/…/Israeli-police-chiefs-to-meet-with-... Cached
Similar

The Jerusalem Post
Loading…
Nov 11, 2012 – Delegation of fourteen in Los Angeles for week-long trip to learn about police work in minority communities.
Jun 20 First-Ever LAPD Jewish Community Forum – The …
http://www.jewishla.org/…/first-ever-l... Cached

Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles
Loading…
Jun 20, 2014 – Wednesday night in Tarzana, the LAPD held its first-ever Jewish … training that’s taken place between the LAPD and Israel’s security agencies.

LAPD Travels To Israel To Study Counter-Terrorism …
http://www.888bailbond.com › Los Angeles Bail Bonds Cached
by Greg Rynerson – Feb 13, 2014 – Grant funding used to pay for trip to the Middle East The last time the LAPD traveled to Israel it the cost of the trip toppled $18000. That money …
LAPD Top Brass in Israel to “Steal” Homeland Security Ideas
matzav.com/lapd-top-brass-in-israel-to-steal-homeland-security-ideas Cached

Feb 13, 2014 – Eight of the Los Angeles Police Department’s top brass were in Israel in February on a visit organized by i-HLS, the Israeli homeland-security …

Senior Los Angeles police officers admire Israel’s latest …
dronewarfare.wordpress.com/…/senior-los-angeles-police-officers-admir…

Feb 26, 2014 – The Jewish Journal reports that – for nine days in February – eight of the highest ranking officers from the Los Angeles Police Department toured …

There’s always a lot of drama from both sides. I think about the conference where naftali bennett got up to speak and was booed and called a murderer, then was bumped by someone to which he snarled “who hit me?” He’s a racist bully then cries “who hit me?” These zionazzis love to bully and provoke anyone who they even think isn’t with them. Kind of like the original nazis, the KKK, etc.,…..

The usual goes on, everybody critical of, and or protesting Israel’s activity is a jew hater. Works to cut off debate about reality.