Rioting resumes throughout east Jerusalem Saturday night

Police respond to multiple disturbances involving Molotov cocktails, firecrackers and rock throwing.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
The riots centered on Kalandiya, with smaller clashes in Isawiya. (photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
The riots centered on Kalandiya, with smaller clashes in Isawiya.
(photo credit: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
Numerous neighborhoods in east Jerusalem were engulfed in violence Saturday night when hundreds of masked, rioting Palestinians threw firebombs, firecrackers and rocks at police and Jewish residents.
According to police, the spate of riots took place in the primarily Arab communities of Abu Tor and A-Tur, where a small number of Jews reside, shortly after Shabbat concluded.
In the City of David, a Palestinian terrorist threw a petrol bomb at a historic Jewish home from the 19th century, wounding a 45-year-old resident who sustained first and second-degree burns to his head.
After being treated by Magen David Adom first responders, the victim was transferred to Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem where he was listed as being in stable condition, police said.
In Abu Tor and nearby A-Tur groups of masked Palestinians blocked roadways with garbage dumpsters and threw firebombs, firecrackers and rocks at police and Jewish homes, police said.
According to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, there were neither serious injuries nor arrests made in the flashpoint neighborhoods, and the violence was promptly quelled by riot police equipped with stun grenades, tear gas and sponge bullets.
In the past several weeks police have arrested over 550 Arabs in neighborhoods including Shuafat, Isawiya, French Hill, Abu Tor, A-Tur and Sur Bahir for rioting, since the murder of teenager Muhammad Abu Khdeir sparked ongoing violence last month.
Saturday night’s rioting followed a Hamas “victory parade” in Ramallah.
According to a report released this month by police and the Construction and Housing Ministry, more than 360 assaults against Jews in east Jerusalem were reported in July alone – double the number from that period last year.