Police chief: We're safeguarding lives; Arab city leaders agree to condemn taxi driver who drove through Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur.
By YAAKOV LAPPINfat acre man 224.88(photo credit: AP)
Despite police assurances that the city is under control, rioting in Acre by Jewish and Arab residents continued Saturday night for the fourth straight night.
Three people were lightly wounded in Saturday evening's round of violence. Large police forces were on the scene and both Jews and Arabs were throwing rocks not only at one another but also at the officers trying to restore order.
Police arrested three Jewish rioters. Overall, 12 people were in custody for rioting and eight were under house arrest.
An Arab family's house was set ablaze on Saturday night. No casualties were reported but the house sustained serious damage.
Two Arab-owned apartments in the Jewish, eastern section of Acre were torched on Friday night.
Police said on Saturday evening that the city was under control, despite criticism that not enough rioters had been arrested.
Galilee police spokesman Eran Shaked expressed surprise at media reports saying that Acre Mayor Shimon Lancry had called for more arrests.
Lancry, who had met with police brass on Saturday evening, was quoted as saying that a firm police hand would quickly bring the rioting under control.
"I attended this meeting, and the mayor expressed his satisfaction with police performance," Shaked said.
"We've been acting with determination to bring about calm. We have 700 officers in the city, and no major incident is taking place. We are in control, and the city is beginning to calm down," he added.
Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said the force's central mission was to safeguard lives, adding that officers had succeeded in that mission so far.
The rioting began on Wednesday night, the eve of Yom Kippur, when an Arab resident of Acre drove into a Jewish neighborhood.
On Saturday, leaders of the Arab community met with Northern District Police chief Cmdr. Shimon Koren and the head of the Acre police station.
They agreed that the Arab leaders would publicly condemn the driver who sparked the riots when he drove into a Jewish neighborhood on Wednesday evening, after the beginning of Yom Kippur.
MK Abbas Zakour (United Arab List) said the Arab leadership in the city met on Saturday morning and discussed ways to avoid similar violence in the future.
He said that an announcement condemning the driver for entering a Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur would be issued, because despite the fact that the driver didn't intend to intentionally hurt the feeling of observant Jews, he "should have thought of a thousand ways to get home and avoid using his car at all costs."
On Saturday evening, representatives of the Jewish and Arab communities were scheduled to meet to devise a plan to restore peace to the town.
"We will ask our Jewish brothers to meet tonight to discuss the future of Acre and not its history. We will try to find a way to restore the normalcy of coexistence and shared life to the city," Zakour said.
Meanwhile, Koren was quoted as saying on Friday night that Islamic leaders who used mosque speakers to incite masses to violence on Wednesday evening would be arrested.
"Whoever incited violence will be arrested," Shaked told The Jerusalem Post. He added, however, that "we do not intend to discuss which people we plan on arresting."
Acre Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar said he was disappointed with the police.
"We expect the police to enforce the law among the Arabs too, not just among the Jews," he said on Friday.
Nehamiya Shirim Michaeli, a candidate running on an independent list in Acre's upcoming mayoral election, said the Arab rioting had been preplanned by "Islamist forces" in the city.
"On this day, when the Jewish people soul-search among themselves and with God, 500 Arab youths entered this area with axes. This was a pogrom, a terrorist attack. We respected Ramadan for a month - all we ask is for Yom Kippur to be respected for one day. Coexistence is just a word here. If the Arab public wants respect, it must also give respect," he said.
On Friday, Kadima leader Tzipi Livni visited Acre and met with the city's mayor. She said Israel would not allow people to take the law into their own hands.
"It doesn't matter how angry they were, every citizen must respect Yom Kippur, the holy day, outside of the home," Livni said during the visit.
The incident was a watershed that would determine "if we remain with yesterday's anger, or whether we can move on from this and improve Jewish-Arab relations," she said.
Meanwhile, Hamas in Gaza did not stay aloof to the clashes in Acre, and a Hamas official, Mushir al-Masri, said that "a day will come when we will purge Acre of the Zionists," Israel Radio reported.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.
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