Israeli police use force to disperse Jerusalem protest

Israeli police on June 28 broke up a march by dozens of Palestinians who demanded the release of relatives from Israeli jails. Police pushed and shoved the demonstrators who threw several stones and bottles before dispersing.

The protest began when about 100 Palestinians, many of them women, carried placards reading "no peace without the release of prisoners" and marched through East Jerusalem's main shopping street, Salah Edin, to the Damascus Gate of the walled old city.

Near the gate, they were blocked by about 200 Israeli police officers who ordered them to disperse and charged into the crowd.

The protest came a day before a scheduled strike of Palestinian merchants over Israeli's tax collection drive in the eastern sector of the city.

Earlier this week, Israeli inspectors raided several shops on Salah Edin street and seized merchandise instead of taxes. Merchants staged a spontaneous sit-in to protest the raid and scheduled a strike for June 28.

Palestinians are reluctant to pay municipal taxes to Israel because they feel they are not getting their fair share in services and because tax payment is tantamount to recognizing Israel's sovereignty in east Jerusalem.

A statement issued on June 28 called on everyone to observe Sunday's strike and said it supported the Jerusalem merchants in their refusal to pay back taxes.