Police restores calm after Arabs and Jews riot in Acre

The city of Acre in northern Israel was on lockdown last night as riot and border police restored calm to the city after a day of heated clashes between the Arab and Jewish residents in the city. The police last night arrested ten people and eight were injured following the clashes. Police say that the catalyst of the riots was on Wednesday evening when an Arab resident of Acre drove through a Jewish neighbourhood playing loud music thus disregarding Jewish sensitivity during this day. "This was a provocation. An Arab driver arrived in a Jewish neighbourhood on Yom Kippur with blaring music, and refused to leave when asked to by local residents. We believe he was intoxicated. This was a deliberate act," Galilee Police spokesman Eran Shaked said.

The incidence resulted in a verbal confrontation with the driver and local residents and led to violent attacks of rock and bottle throwing. Rumours of the incident spread to the Arab quarter of the city, where a group of a few hundred mobilised and walked down the main road destroying cars and store windows. Police were quickly to react to the situation in fear of a clash between the Jewish and Arab residents and used preventative methods to halt the tension from rising. "We used tear gas and other means to disperse the [Arab] group heading toward Ben-Gurion street, thereby preventing a far more serous incident. Lives were saved because of this action," Shaked said.

The riots are believed to have been spontaneous and not pre-planned. Israel Police said yesterday that they had no prior intelligence to the possibility of clashes. One police source said that the tensions between the Arab and Jewish citizens arose from the gaps in infrastructure and services that the government provides the two communities. Approximately, one third of the city's 50,0000 residents are Arab. The Acre police chief Avi Edri believes that the initial incident was an isolated event which led to the escalation involving Jewish and Arab gangs. An inquiry into the conduct of the police is expected to be opened. Meanwhile, the left and right wing of the Israeli political spectrum added their perspective to the situation. MK Effi Eitam called the riots a "anti-Semitic pogrom at the heart of Israel on the holiest day to the Jewish people" while Arab MK Ahmed Tibi referred to them as "a pogrom perpetrated by Jewish thugs against Arabs." Likud MK Yuval Steinitz called on the police chief to resign. "The State of Israel has become the only state in the Western world where pogroms are being perpetrated against Jews, with their property being damaged and with chants of 'death to the Jews. A police force that is unable to protect Jewish neighbourhoods in Akko and Peki'in needs deep scrutiny," Steinitz said.

Back to top Previous article Next article