Polish security firm may help patrol Jerusalem
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
04.11.2015 11:44
A Polish security firm has offered to send 100 guards to help Israeli forces patrol Jerusalem in the wake of an escalation of violence on the streets of the city.
Israeli Border Police on patrol as Palestinian children return home as school is let out in the Mount of Olives area of Arab East Jerusalem, 03 November 2015. Israel continues increased security throughout Jerusalem. EPA/JIM HOLLANDE
Beniamin Krasicki, owner of the Warsaw-based firm City Security, hails from a prominent aristocratic family that helped shelter Jews during the Nazi occupation of Poland in WWII, and he claims that he wants to help “innocent people who are exposed to terrorist attacks.”
However, the proposal has sparked concerns among experts in Poland.
“Sooner or later, and perhaps for a trivial reason that we cannot predict today, Palestinians or Israelis will be offended by us,” commented Professor Michał Chorośnicki from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.
Security expert Wojciech Szewko has expressed more forthright opinions, claiming that Poland could become a target for 'jihadists' if a Palestinian is killed by a Polish security guard. He likewise said that the security of Polish tourists and diplomats could be threatened.
With a rash of street stabbings over the last six weeks, 11 Israelis have been killed, while 66 Palestinians have died under Israeli fire.
Amnesty Global has claimed that “Palestinians were deliberately shot dead by Israeli forces when they posed no imminent threat to life, in what appear to have been extrajudicial executions.”
However, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu has argued that Israel is using “exactly the kind and amount of legitimate force” that any other state would do. (nh/rk)
Source: PAP/AP/amnesty.org