Jerusalem police brace for more Nakba unrest

Relatives of a Palestinian teen shot in Jerusalem clashes were to bury him on Saturday as Israeli police prepared for a possible second day of unrest as Arabs mourn the 1948 creation of Israel. Confusion surrounds the death of Milad Said Ayyash. His family say he was sixteen years old, police say 17. A relative told AFP that he was shot in the stomach by a Jewish settler in the flashpoint neighbourhood of Silwan, where youngsters hurled stones and petrol bombs at police and news reports said petrol bombs were also thrown at a Jewish settlement enclave. Police said that he suffered a light wound to the shoulder, from as yet unknown causes, and they were investigating the circumstance. They said that no live ammunition was used either by security forces or settlers. A police statement on Saturday morning said that the family had been asked to allow a post mortem on the youth's body but they refused and took the corpse from the east Jerusalem hospital where he died overnight to Silwan for burial later in the day. "The police will allow the funeral to take place but will not permit public disorder during or after it and will act firmly to prevent any such incidents," the statement said. "Jerusalem police, supported by reinforcements continue to be deployed in east Jerusalem and (surrounding Palestinian) villages to prevent any attempt at disturbing the peace," it added. In Friday's unrest, police said they arrested 34 Palestinian youngsters on suspicion of public disorder offences, in addition to another 13 rounded up preemptively as potential troublemakers. They said that three police officers were lightly injured in clashes with protesters who threw stones and petrol bombs. A police statement said three people causing disturbances were "very slightly hurt" by sponge rounds fired by anti-riot police. The foam rubber ammunition is designed to deliver a heavy, stunning blow without penetrating the body. An AFP correspondent saw at least four Palestinians hurt as police fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing youths in Silwan, with clashes also reported in Issawiya, Al-Tur and Ras al-Amud -- all flanking Jerusalem's Old City. A youth from Silwan was hit in the genitals by rubber bullets fired on Friday by security forces, said a spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent. He did not give details on other casualties. Protests are expected to continue over the weekend in Jerusalem and elsewhere, culminating on Sunday, when Palestinian organisations have called for mass rallies, including in neighbouring Arab countries. Refugees in Jordan started marking the anniversary on Friday with around 10,000 people gathering in the Jordan Valley town of Karemeh, holding large Jordanian and Palestinian flags, and banners reading "Palestinian refugees will return." In Amman, nearly 700 people marched through the city centre chanting "Palestine, Palestine, the refugees promise you to return!" In Cairo, Egyptian troops fired in the air to disperse a protest outside the Israeli embassy demanding the expulsion of the ambassador and the severance of ties with the Jewish state, an AFP reporter said. And the Egyptian army blocked access to the Sinai peninsula to prevent a pro-Palestinian march from Cairo to the Gaza Strip planned for Saturday. In the Gaza Strip, the ruling Islamist Hamas movement has organised a children's protest in the centre of Gaza City for Saturday, while the Palestine Liberation Organisation is calling for a mass rally in the territory's Bureij refugee camp. More than 760,000 Palestinians -- estimated today to number 4.7 million with their descendants -- fled or were driven out of their homes in the Arab-Israeli war which followed Israel's establishment. Israel celebrated the 63rd anniversary on Tuesday, in accordance with the Hebrew calendar. Around 160,000 Palestinians stayed behind and are now known as Arab Israelis. They number about 1.3 million people, or some 20 percent of Israel's population.