Israeli police arrent 9 for attacks on Arabs in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Those who perpetrate these attacks are shaming Zionism and Israel. They are engaging in pointless hooliganism and undermining the fabric of Israeli society. They are acting as gentiles once did to Jews.

 

Last update - 15:52 20/10/2008       
Police arrest 9 Jews over recent assaults on Arabs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Goren, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters

 

Police have arrested nine Jews suspected of recent assaults against Arabs in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, including several firebombings that set some homes ablaze.

 

Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said six Jews were arrested on Monday on suspicion of involvement in firebombings of Arab homes in the Hatikva neighborhood in southern Tel Aviv. The attacks, which took place roughly five days ago, caused damage but no injuries.

 

The remands of two of the suspects, both minors, were extended by four days by a juvenile court in Tel Aviv. The remands of three other suspects were extended by three days. All six suspects deny involvement in the acts.
 

 

Police sources said that additional suspects have not yet been arrested, and that one of the minors had been briefly detained roughly one month ago on suspicion of attempting to carry out a similar offense. The same sources expressed fears that such incidents are on the rise in Tel Aviv.

 

Police arrested three other Jews on Sunday after scuffles with Arabs in Jerusalem, where a garbage truck driven by an Arab was stoned on Bar Ilan Street. The driver was treated at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Kerem for minor injuries.

 

A total of seven Arabs were injured in clashes with Jews in Jerusalem on Sunday. In a pre-dawn incident, six Arabs were injured in a brawl with a group of Jewish youth.

 

Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski Sunday criticized the stone-throwing.

 

"This is the behavior of hooligans, and these loose canons must be judged severely," he said. He added that the incident would not damage the fabric of life in the city.

 

The violence coincided with rioting last week in the northern city of Acre, where tensions between Jews and Arabs flared after an Arab resident of the city drove into a Jewish neighbourhood on Yom Kippur, when traffic largely comes to a halt.