Second pepper spraying reported as tensions rise during Fresno Israel-Palestine protests
Another man appeared to get pepper sprayed Tuesday during an Israel-Palestine demonstration in Fresno.
This time, it was a man who was against Palestine in the Middle East conflict with Israel.
The man, whose identity was not immediately known, got into a heated discussion with a woman who was among a few hundred people in attendance to show support during a “Freedom for Palestine” demonstration outside River Park in northeast Fresno.
Pushing and shoving soon occurred.
Then the man who was arguing with the woman ripped a sign, according to observers.
That man later claimed he was hit by pepper spray from someone in the crowd, according to a protester who helped him.
It is unclear if his claims that he was pepper sprayed occurred before or after he ripped the sign.
Fresno Police on Wednesday said they have opened an investigation.
Cal professsor tried to help
Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, a professor at Cal who attended Tuesday’s demonstration but did not see the confrontation between the man and the woman, ended up helping the man.
“I took maybe 10 bottles of water and flush his eyes and wash his whole face,” Abu-Shamsieh said. “His eyes were red. I asked, ‘Did you actually rip the sign?’ He said ‘Yes, I did.’”
The Cal professor said he then told the man that he shouldn’t have done that.
“It’s their property; you have no right to do that,” Abu-Shamsieh recalled telling the man. “You have the right to be here. But you don’t have the right to infringe on somebody else’s right to be here.”
That’s when the man had harsh words for the professor.
“F you. F Palestine,” the man said, according to Abu-Shamsieh.
“I’m helping you,” Abu-Shamsieh replied. “You’re a guy that’s not worth it. So I’m just going to move away from you and go in peace.”
Another demonstrator in attendance said the man who claimed to be pepper sprayed was acting violent and saying racial slurs.
“The crowd saw he was violent,” said Khalid Ziadeh, who added that he was not sure if the man had been pepper sprayed. “So they stayed clear away from him.”
Previous pepper spray incident
The alleged pepper spray incident came three days after some supporters of Palestine captured video of a man pepper spraying them from his car.
In that incident Saturday, Brian Lee Turner, 62, ended up getting arrested after Fresno Police said he rolled down his car window and pepper sprayed another car with its windows down and struck three men.
The victims of the incident said Turner got into an argument with them and yelled “ ’F all of Palestine’ and ‘We don’t support Palestine.’”
Supporters of Palestine have been gathering at the corner of Blackstone and Nees avenues to voice their displeasure of the recent rash of violence in and around Jerusalem that’s resulted in civil unrest between Arabs and Jews across Israel.
A number of other demonstrations in support of Palestine have occurred across the United States, too.
In Fresno, several people of different nationalities and ethnicities showed up at the rallies to back Palestine, including Jewish and Christian speakers.
“We’ve got Syrians, Lebanese, we got Algerians, we’ve got Palestinians, got Jordanians; we’ve even got Americans supporting us,” Ziadeh said. “We’re trying to raise our voices to the injustice going on at Palestine.
“Israel has been acting more like tyrants nowadays. They’ve been breaking peace treaties left and right. And people are dying. I’ve got relatives in Jerusalem, Palestine, who are being killed on a daily basis just because they’re practicing their own religion.
“I think that’s incredibly unfair and an injustice,” Ziadeh added. “Hoping somebody will hear us.”
Among the signs on display, one read: “Free Palestine. Exist. Resist. Return.”
Fire in middle of road
At one point during the rally, something was set on fire and tossed in the middle of the road.
Then a liquid was poured on top, causing the flames to grow by 4 to 5 feet.
The fire was soon after put out, and a man got on a megaphone and scolded protesters for the fire.
Three hours into the night and the demonstration still was full of energy with people yelling and cheering and cars driving by honking in support while some of the drama from earlier died out.
“We want the people, the media to see the real things happening in Palestine,” protester Adam Yaghmor said. “That’s what we’re doing, spreading awareness and supporting the people there.”
Added Reza Nekumanesh, executive director of the Islamic Culture of Fresno and event organizer: “We want (people) to contact their congressmen, their representatives to ask them to stop sending monetary and military aid to the state of Israel so long as they are acting in a punitive way to oppress.”
This story was originally published May 18, 2021 at 10:24 PM.