Arab residents of Jaffa protest against ‘Jewish settlement'

Protesters carry Egyptian and Palestinian flags, expressing solidarity with anti-government protests raging across Egypt.

By BEN HARTMAN
Egyptian protester with flag, water cannon - Gallery (photo credit: AP)
Egyptian protester with flag, water cannon - Gallery
(photo credit: AP)
Around 1,000 Jaffa residents held a protest march on Saturday, against what they said was a worsening trend of Jewish “settlement” in the mixed Arab and Jewish city.
A number of the protesters carried Egyptian and Palestinian flags, and expressed solidarity with the anti-government protests raging across Egypt.
Click here for full Jpost coverage of unrest in Egypt
Click here for full Jpost coverage of unrest in Egypt
The march led from the Peres Center for Peace on Rehov Kedem to the Etrog market area in the Ajami neighborhood, where the company “Bemunah” is currently building a 20-unit housing project for religious Jews only. The housing project has been a serious source of tension in Jaffa over the past year, where rising housing prices, a housing shortage and a growing number of new Jewish residents have combined to produce a potentially volatile mix.
MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List- Ta’al) spoke at the rally, telling protesters that “the settlers in the heart of Hebron are a cancerous growth, and this is the same for those in the Arab neighborhoods of Jaffa.”
Tibi added that Jaffa “is being strangled by oppression and discrimination, and a housing shortage,” and accused the government of working for the benefit of “Jewish extremists.”
MK Dov Henin (Hadash) said that he took part in the protest to “say in a clear voice, ‘No to racism and no to settlement.’ Justice and equality will defeat the racism of the settlers.”