Tensions remain high in Acre Friday, where police comtinue to maintain a strong presence in the northern Israeli city. Israeli and Arab Knesset members blame each other for the violence that erupted over Yom Kippur and the police are harshly criticized for their handling of the incident.
Clashes in the northern city between Jewish and Arab residents resumed Thursday evening, shortly after Yom Kippur came to an end. The riots were among the worst ever witnessed in the city, that erupted in response to violence that broke out during the holiday, when an Arab driver drove through a Jewish neighborhood in the city, sparking an uproar.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and for twenty four hours traffic comes to a total standstill. Even secular Jews refrain from driving out of respect. Jewish residents claim they were outraged when they spotted the Arab driver, who smoked and made excessive noise.
A large Jewish and Arab crowd gathered at the site, with some jeering and others exchanging blows, the violence later subsided. On Thursday night police warded off hundreds of Jewish residents chanting “death to Arabs” as they stood in the streets and attempted to storm the main road. Motorists were barred from entering the city center.
Hundreds of Arabs also gathered in the center of the city Clashes were reported at the city’s train station where Arabs and Jews hurled rocks at each other. Police were forced to use water cannons in an attempt to disperse the crowds and quell the violence. Additional security forces were also dispatched to the city. Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said police were forced to use tear gas, and stun grenades to disperse the rioters and denied claims that rubber bullets were fired at the Arab demonstrators.
Arab Knesset members Mohammed Barakeh and Ahmed Tibi both lashed out at Israel. Barakeh insisted that the incident had nothing to do with Yom Kippur but was a “deliberate escalation in racist speech due to the upcoming municipal elections.” Tibi however described the clashes as a pogrom perpetrated by Jews against Arab residents.
Knesset member Yuval Steinitz called on Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and the police commissioner to resign, saying “a police force that is unable to protect Jewish neighborhoods needs to take a hard look at itself.” Jewish Knesset member Yossi Beilin declared that “exactly eight years after the October riots, it appears that nothing has been done to implement the recommendations of the Or Commission in regard to Israel’s Arabs.” (Beilin was referring to the investigation into the 2000 riots during which Israeli Police shot and killed 12 Israeli Arabs and a Palestinian). 10/10/08
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