Akko Riots rebound, 3 injured by stones

After hours of relative calm, Jewish youths begin to crowd in eastern neighborhood of city, prompting stone-throwing from many Arab residents; police detain nine residents, raid home from which stones were flung
Ahiya Raved

On a third successive night of rioting in Akko, Arabs threw stones at dozens of Jewish youths who formed a crowd in one of the city's eastern neighborhoods. Three people were injured, including a man who was walking his dog, who sustained a mild head injury from a stone that was flung at him. Police detained five Jewish protestors and four Arabs, and began to disperse the remaining crowd with the help of stun grenades, tear gas, and water hoses. Officers also raided a home from which stones had been flung, detaining three family members found within.



Northern District Police stated that altogether 30 people have been arrested in relation to the riots since they first began on Yom Kippur Eve.


Meanwhile Akko firefighters attempted to extinguish a large number of fires that were ignited in trash cans and wood piles throughout the city. In one instance the fire was reportedly near a gas leak, and vehicle arson was suspected.



At around 10 pm police reported the incident under control. However at around 11 pm further conflict developed near the Western Galilee College located in the northern part of the city, as well as near the bus terminal. Police reported that Jews and Arabs were throwing stones at each other in the area.


The incident commenced at around 9 pm, when dozens of Jewish youths began to crowd two of the neighborhood's main streets. Police barricaded the eastern entrance to the city, and deployed large SWAT and Border Guard forces armed with anti-protest equipment to the area.


Wednesday's violence erupted after an Arab motorist entered a predominantly Jewish neighborhood on the holiest of Jewish days.



The incident quickly developed into a mass riot involving hundreds of people, during which dozens of cars and some 30 shops were vandalized. Three people, including the Arab motorist and a police officer, sustained light injuries.



The clashes between Arabs and Jews resumed Thursday evening, after Yom Kippur ended, as hundreds of Jews and Arabs demonstrated and confronted police near the train station in eastern Akko and near the city's northern housing projects.



Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni censured the Yom Kippur riots in Akko asserting, during a meeting with city mayor Shimon Lankry, that citizens cannot be allowed to take the law into their own hands.



"All Israeli citizens should respect the holy day of Yom Kippur when they are outside their home," she said Friday.