Purchase of A-Tur home sparks clash

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
Clashes broke out in the Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur on Sunday, after police evicted an Arab family that had been squatting in a newly acquired Jewish home, police said. The late-morning violence erupted hours after several Arabs entered the empty house overlooking the Temple Mount, which was was bought last year by a foreign company acting for a private Jewish group, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. The Jewish owners of the house summoned police, and showed them the newly acquired ownership deeds. After the police arrived, the squatters left the house. But several dozen local residents, who had gathered outside, scuffled with police, lightly injuring four policemen, police said. Police used stun grenades to disperse the crowd and arrested four men for allegedly attacking the police officers. More than a dozen small Jewish enclaves exist, or are under construction, in or near Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem. They were initiated by two private right-wing organizations which are backed by foreign donors.