A Palestinian-Israeli who has worked many years for coexistence between the Palestinian-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli populations in his town was arrested Monday for 'harming religious sensitivities'. Jamal Tawfik was blamed for instigating anti-Palestinian riots in the town, and charged with the crime of driving his car on a Jewish holiday (Tawfik is not Jewish).

Relations between Palestinian-Israelis (also known as Arab-Israelis, or simply “Arabs” in much of the Israeli press) and Jewish-Israelis, in Akko and elsewhere inside Israel, have been poor in recent years. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the unrest cannot be blamed on one single incident, because there is a lot of tension between the populations inside Israel. Much of this tension, Olmert continued, can be traced to the preferential treatment of Israeli Jews throughout Israel.

Tawfik told the Knesset Committee of the Interior that, "If what I did caused this [four days of rioting in Akko], I am ready to sacrifice my neck right here on this table, on lowered gallows, just to return peace and quiet back to the city of Acre [the Hebrew name for Akko], to bring co-existence back to its place.” He refuted allegations made by some of the rioters that he had been drunk or playing music when he accidentally drove into a Jewish neighborhood on the eve of Yom Kippur. He said that, to the contrary, he was just driving home from work when he made a wrong turn. He said he was extremely apologetic for his mistake, but his apologies did not satisfy those in the neighborhood who were offended by his driving on a Jewish holiday, when Jews are not supposed to drive.

His comments led to the trading of accusations between Palestinian-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli lawmakers, who blamed each other for the violence in Akko.

Police report that 54 people have been arrested during the five days of rioting. They say that there are both Palestinian-Israelis and Jewish-Israelis in custody, but have not said how many of each.

Tawfik, who helped start a community co-existence committee in Akko, said that he has been misrepresented by both the rioters and the Israeli press. He said he has always worked for coexistence between the indigenous Palestinian population of the city and the Jewish population that has moved in since the creation of Israel in 1948.

Police have extended the detention period of Tawfik for three additional days, during which they will investigate the charges against him.

Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, stated on Sunday that the Arabs in Israel have long suffered from discrimination, and urged Arab and Israeli leaders to act for improving the relations between all citizens of Israel.

Olmert said that he had no doubt that discrimination against the Arab population had existed for so many years and that this discrimination stemmed from a variety of reasons, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported.

Olmert's statements came during a meeting with Arab leaders and representatives of the Arab community in Israel, including Shawki Khatib, head of the Higher Follow-up Committee, and several Arab members of the Knesset, Haaretz added.

 The Arab officials handed Olmert a petition signed by more than 250.000 citizens who demanded the formation of a probe committee which would be in charge of re-examining the decision of Israeli Attorney General who decided not to indict any officer involved in the deadly shootings of October 2000 when Israeli policemen opened fire, killing Arab protesters 13.

 Olmert responded by saying that he did not have the power to alter or appeal the decision of the attorney general, and added that there would be a chance for discussing how to improve relations between Jews and Arabs.

 Also, Haaretz said that Israeli President, Shimon Peres, met with several Arab leaders on Sunday.

Both Olmert and Peres made comments that indicated that justice had not been served in the case of October 2000, but they also said that they had limitations regarding the decisions of the Attorney General.

Khatib stated that the Or Committee which was formed to investigate the 2000 events reached several findings, and added that if those findings had been implemented, the clashes in Acre could have been avoided.

  

  

Extremist Jewish rioters continued their attacks against Arab homes and property in Akka, especially in the Eastern neighborhood. Eyewitnesses reported that the attack was more violent than yesterday and that the mobs were surrounding an Arab home.

Dozens of Arab residents in Akka warned that hundreds of Jewish residents from Akka and different parts of the country could carry out crimes that would lead to the loss of life and slammed the police for practically begging the attackers to leave.

The angry mob burnt an empty Arab home located near the Magen David Adom (Israel's national emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service) medical center.  

The Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that yesterday Jewish rioters set fire to two houses and on Saturday evening the rioters burned a third house.

The Israeli police said that four rioters were detained after the Arab houses were torched, but that two of the arrestees were released shortly afterward due to their young age.

 Several Arab members of the Knesset stated that the Israeli right wing escalated its racist campaign and incited the Arabic presence in Akka.

On Friday at night, extremists burnt two Arab homes in the Eastern neighborhood and attacked a third home. Several Arab families had to leave their homes and relocate to different areas, fearing further attacks against them.  

A senior Israeli police commander in the area said that the police would act with severity against the rioters and will use all available means to stop the riots.

Since the clashes started four days ago, the police have arrested thirty residents including the son of a driver who was attacked by several Jewish residents; the attack led to the ongoing clashes.

Furthermore, Haaretz reported that three Jewish rioters were wounded on Saturday evening during clashes which took place in northern Akka.

 The violence renewed amidst meetings between police officials and Arab leaders to calm the situation.

Haaretz also said that Jewish hackers broke into a Hebrew-language website and posted incitement calls against Arabs in addition to calling on the Jews to boycott all Arab-owned businesses.

The ongoing riots have resulted so far in the destruction of 40 shops and 100 vehicles; nearly 30 residents have been arrested, and twenty of them are still imprisoned.

Jewish gang burns Palestinian home in the fourth day of violence in Akko

Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies, Sunday October 12, 2008 - 03:11

Chanting “Death to Arabs”, a gang of 200 Israeli Jews set off from their neighborhood in Akko towards an indigenous Palestinian-Israeli neighborhood Saturday. They managed to set one house on fire before being stopped by Israeli police, who fired a water cannon at the crowd.

This march took place just hours after Israel's newly-elected Prime Minister Tzipi Livni traveled to the region to appeal for calm, as violent riots entered their fourth day. The town of Akko, or “Acre”, as it is known to Jewish Israelis, has been in turmoil since the evening of Yom Kippur four days ago.

Apparently, religious Jews in the town were offended when a Palestinian-Israeli resident in Akko drove his car on Yom Kippur. Jews are not allowed to drive on Yom Kippur, and while the Palestinian-Israeli who drove his car on the Jewish holiday is not Jewish, the Jewish-Israeli residents of the town were offended that he drove on their holiday.

Since that evening, Jewish-Israelis have been attacking Palestinian-Israelis in the town, going into their neighborhoods and attacking Palestinian-Israeli residents and their property. Akko, like every town in Israel that has both Jewish and Palestinian residents, is fully segregated, with very little crossover between neighborhoods. The attacks have led to stone throwing by Palestinian-Israeli youth, and the involvement of the Israeli police.

Image by Arabs48.com Image by Arabs48.om

Israeli sources reported that clashes between Arab and Jewish residents in Akka (Acre) renewed on Friday following violent clashes that took place on the eve of Yum Kippur feast.

The sources stated that dozens of Jewish youth gathered in front of a house of an Arab resident as several masked residents gathered there too.

 The police intervened and dispersed the crowd later on as reported by the Israeli radio.

The Arabs48 news website reported that the clashes renewed on Friday afternoon as dozens of Jewish youth held a procession carrying Israeli flags and headed to an Arab home which was attacked on Thursday.

The website added that the police intervened in order to bar them from attacking the home.

The website also reported that dozens of Jewish youth carried a series of attacks overnight targeting several Arab homes stores.

A police commander said on Friday that dozens of policemen were deployed in the western sector of the town and added that “the situation could explode at any given moment”, he also “right now, it seems to be calm, but it is a matter of time”.

Meanwhile, the Acre (Akka)municipality and several theater officials cancelled a theater event due to the clashes. The cancelation comes only one day after Acre Mayor called on the Jews participating in the event to consider it a national event.

The event is an annual activity held every year following the Yum Kippur Jewish feast, Acre was supposed to host it in the period between October  10 and 15. Several Arab figures said that this event only aims at voiding the Arab culture and history in Akka.

Shimon Lankri, the Mayor of Akka, that the decision to cancel the event was made as the municipality does not want to risk further clashes due to the high tension. The event was scheduled for next week.

Furthermore, Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported that Avi Dichter, the Israeli Public Security Minister, stated earlier on Friday that the police will be firm in dealing with any resident responsible for inciting or the clashes which started on Wednesday.

 He also slammed Jewish and Muslim residents for what he described as “incitement which caused the escalation of the clashes”.

 Dichter added that some of the calls by Jews for the residents to carry arms are also incitement, and stated that the security devices are now checking the calls in mosques asking the Arab residents to take off to the streets, Haaretz reported.