IOF troops assault Palestinian lawmakers

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forcers on Saturday assaulted Mohammed Baraka, the Arab member of the Israeli parliament, and Sahar Al-Qawasme, a member of the Palestinian parliament. The MPs were leading a march, grouping a number of foreign peace activists, in Al-Khalil city in front of one of the settlement outposts. Baraka addressed the rally but the IOF soldiers and policemen asked the crowd to break up at the pretext the rally was "illegal". However, Baraka continued his speech saying that the people of Al-Khalil are the ones to ask him to evacuate the area and not the soldiers or settlers. The soldiers then started shoving participants and assaulted Baraka, Qawasme and an old foreign activist. An Israeli officer threatened Baraka with arrest despite his parliamentary immunity. Witnesses reported that the soldiers and policemen then started firing teargas canisters and sonic bombs to disperse the gathering.