Police still on high alert in Abu Sinan after mass brawl
No arrests have been made yet following the clashes, as police continue to collect evidence.
By BEN HARTMAN
Police from across the Coastal District remained in and around the town of Abu Sinan in northern Israel Sunday, two days after a Friday night brawl between Druse and Muslim locals left 43 wounded.A spokesman for the Coastal District said Sunday that no arrests have yet been made following the brawl – in which participants used knives, sticks, guns, and even a fragmentation grenade – and police are still collecting evidence.Since Saturday morning a number of videos of the brawl have been posted online, all of them showing large crowds fighting in the town, without a police officer in sight.The Coastal District spokesman said Sunday that police will remain deployed until they are confident that the situation has cooled off.Classes were canceled in Abu Sinan’s schools on Sunday, following a recommendation made by district police. There has been rising tension between Muslim and Druse students in the town, including a recent incident where several Muslim students showed up to class in keffiyehs and protested the security situation in Israel. The protest reportedly sparked arguments with Druse students that eventually escalating into Friday night’s brawl, according to reports.A spokesman for Abu Sinan council head Nuhad Mishlav said Saturday that the brawl was sparked by a feud between two local men and had nothing to do with Druse-Muslim relations, which he said are peaceful.Abu Sinan is home to 13,045 residents, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.The population is majority Muslim, but the town is also home to thousands of Druse and a community of Christian Arabs.