"If what I have done caused all of it, I'm willing to put my neck here on this table," Taufik says.
By SHELLY PAZacre smashed window 224.88(photo credit: Channel 10)
Jamal Taufik, the Arab driver who drove into a Jewish neighborhood in Acre on Yom Kippur eve and provoked the riots between the city's Jewish and Arab residents, told the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee on Sunday that he had made a mistake and had no intention of causing such turmoil in the racially mixed city.
"If what I have done caused all of it, I am willing to put my neck here on this table. You can cut it, if only quiet, peace and coexistence return to the city of Acre," he said.
An urgent committee meeting was convened to discuss the threat to the coexistence between Arab and Jewish residents in mixed towns and cities, and the Acre Municipality's decision to cancel the annual theater festival following the recent events.
Taufik told the committee that, contrary to reports, he was not driving drunk or playing loud music. "I am religious and therefore I don't drink. All I wanted was to get home safely. I have made a mistake. I want to ask for forgiveness. I've suffered through a tough experience," he told the committee members.
Nonetheless, Taufik and the right-wing MKs were unable to refrain from the kind of heated exchanges they were asking Acre residents to halt.
MK Effie Eitam (National Union-NRP) interrupted Taufik's remarks and accused him of lying.
"What is he doing here? Shouldn't he be behind bars? You are putting on an act!" yelled Eitam.
"You're stirring up things," MK Taleb a-Saana responded.
Committee chairman MK Ophir Paz-Pines tried unsuccessfully to restore order. "With all due respect, Eitam, this man was brave enough to come here and tell us his side of the story," he said.
"He's not brave, he should to be arrested!" shouted Eitam.
Taufik told the committee about himself and his commitment to coexistence in the city of Acre, where he has lived for the past 32 years, adding that he was one of the founders of the Communal Forum for Coexistence in Acre.
"I invented coexistence, you cannot teach me about coexistence," he said. "They turned me into a murderer, a fascist, called us Nazis. We are not Nazis nor fascists," he continued.
But his remarks only further inflamed the atmosphere in the room.
"There is a small group of people who try to provoke things in that neighborhood in an attempt to maintain the Jewish character of Acre. These people are inspired by MKs like Eitam and [National Union-NRP MK Zvi] Hendel and they are responsible for the lousy situation," said MK Muhammad Barakei (Hadash).
"You're a political pyromaniac! All you are doing is stirring up a fight! You are dirty!" Eitam shouted back.
The verbal violence continued throughout the entire meeting, with Paz-Pines unable to restrain the MKs.
Northern District police representatives explained that, despite the accusations that they responded late to the initial rioting, no casualties were reported.
"The fact is that when the first 10 policemen arrived at the scene, they had to handle 300-400 people who had already lifted the driver's car in the air. Our first mission was to prevent casualties. We released the driver from the mob and helped him into an apartment nearby," Acre police station commander Avraham Edri said. "My staff served as a barrier between him and the excited mob; the policemen were hurt but not one civilian was injured," he said.
Edri added that since Wednesday night, 54 rioters had been arrested, 12 on Wednesday night who are suspected of vandalizing cars and shops in the city. "My staff does not differentiate between Jews and Arabs," he added.
Both Jewish MK David Azoulay (Shas) and Arab MK Abbas Zakour (Ra'am-Ta'al), residents of Acre who were in town when the riots erupted, spoke to the committee.
"Yom Kippur's events developed quickly. Masked criminals shattered the windows of shops and businesses that are owned by Jews; that was a terrible thing to watch. The situation on the street was very intense. I myself heard them calling, 'Allahu Akbar! Kill the Jews!' And the police were not there," Azoulay said.
Zakour told Azoulay that no such calls were heard, and pointed to the statement of the Acre police commander who said on Saturday that the Jewish side was behind the ongoing agitation.
"Acre's residents have lived and still live well together. This is one case of a man who drove on Yom Kippur into a Jewish neighborhood by mistake. All Acre's religious and cultural leaders have decided to join efforts and to bring the peace back to the streets," Zakour said.
The committee members agreed that the government should compensate both Jewish and Arab residents for the damage to their property as well as the actors who will not be able to perform at the theater festival following its cancellation.
"We call on the police to find and judge severely all of those who took the law into their hands," Paz-Pines said in concluding the meeting.
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
