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Security tight in riot-torn Acre | Security tight in riot-torn Acre |
(about 22 hours later) | |
Hundreds of Israeli police officers have been deployed to the northern city of Acre after four days of violence between Arabs and Jews. | Hundreds of Israeli police officers have been deployed to the northern city of Acre after four days of violence between Arabs and Jews. |
Overnight Jewish and Arab demonstrators threw stones at each other, before being dispersed by the security forces. | Overnight Jewish and Arab demonstrators threw stones at each other, before being dispersed by the security forces. |
On Sunday the normally busy Old City was reported to be almost empty. | On Sunday the normally busy Old City was reported to be almost empty. |
More than 50 people have been arrested since Wednesday when an Israeli-Arab man was assaulted for driving his car during the Jewish Yom Kippur holy day. | More than 50 people have been arrested since Wednesday when an Israeli-Arab man was assaulted for driving his car during the Jewish Yom Kippur holy day. |
Jews in the area accused the man of driving into a conservative Jewish area with provocatively loud music blaring from his car radio on a day when many Jews do not eat or drive. | Jews in the area accused the man of driving into a conservative Jewish area with provocatively loud music blaring from his car radio on a day when many Jews do not eat or drive. |
He maintains he was driving quietly to his son's fiance's house in the area. | He maintains he was driving quietly to his son's fiance's house in the area. |
Water cannon | Water cannon |
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying he would adopt a zero tolerance policy on violence in Acre and that there was a feeling residents were being held hostage by extremists. | Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying he would adopt a zero tolerance policy on violence in Acre and that there was a feeling residents were being held hostage by extremists. |
All the money I invested in this house, and now everything has been destroyed Subhi Murasi,owner of torched house Riots shock mixed Israeli city | All the money I invested in this house, and now everything has been destroyed Subhi Murasi,owner of torched house Riots shock mixed Israeli city |
Senior police officers have met Arab leaders to try to restore calm. | Senior police officers have met Arab leaders to try to restore calm. |
About 700 officers are on patrol in a city of about 50,000. | About 700 officers are on patrol in a city of about 50,000. |
Police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse stone-throwing rioters. | Police used water cannon on Saturday to disperse stone-throwing rioters. |
An owner of a house torched by Jewish rioters, Subhi Murasi, told Haaretz: "Everyone thinks that only Jews are being hurt in the eastern neighbourhood, and nobody's paying any attention to us. | An owner of a house torched by Jewish rioters, Subhi Murasi, told Haaretz: "Everyone thinks that only Jews are being hurt in the eastern neighbourhood, and nobody's paying any attention to us. |
"All the money I invested in this house, and now everything has been destroyed." | "All the money I invested in this house, and now everything has been destroyed." |
Hundreds of Arabs took to the streets damaging shops and vehicles after the car driver, Tawfik Jamal, was assaulted by a group of Jewish youths. | Hundreds of Arabs took to the streets damaging shops and vehicles after the car driver, Tawfik Jamal, was assaulted by a group of Jewish youths. |
Jewish and Arab rioters have clashed with each other and with police on subsequent days. | Jewish and Arab rioters have clashed with each other and with police on subsequent days. |
Mr Jamal is reported to have said he was simply driving to a property he owned in the eastern part of the city. | Mr Jamal is reported to have said he was simply driving to a property he owned in the eastern part of the city. |
About one-third of Acre's population are Israeli-Arabs, with the highest concentration in the Old City. | About one-third of Acre's population are Israeli-Arabs, with the highest concentration in the Old City. |
Israeli-Arabs are people of Palestinian origin whose forbears remained in Israel after the foundation of the country in 1948. | Israeli-Arabs are people of Palestinian origin whose forbears remained in Israel after the foundation of the country in 1948. |
They number about one million - about one-fifth of the Israeli population - and although they have full rights as Israeli citizens, human rights groups say they face discrimination and exclusion. | They number about one million - about one-fifth of the Israeli population - and although they have full rights as Israeli citizens, human rights groups say they face discrimination and exclusion. |