Riots hit Israeli city during Yom Kippur

Jews and Arabs clashed in an Israeli city after an Arab man was assaulted, according to reports.

Cars and stores were damaged as Jews and Arabs clashed in the Israeli city of Acre after an Arab man was assaulted for driving during Yom Kippur, the Haaretz newpaper reported today. The unrest erupted around midnight, several hours after Jews began marking Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest observance in the Jewish calendar, when Israel comes to a virtual standstill. A group of Jewish youths assaulted an Arab man who was driving his car, in an incident that touched off large-scale rioting between Jews and Arabs, resulting in extensive damage to dozens of cars and shops, Haaretz said in its internet edition.

Police used force to disperse the crowd of several hundred peoples, the newspaper said, citing police officials. About one third of Acre's population of almost 50,000 residents are Arab. Arab MPs have for years asked security forces to take tougher action to prevent Jews from stoning cars driven by Arabs on Yom Kippur. One of them, Abbas Zkoor, said such attacks occurred frequently. "Despite numerous complaints filed in police stations, officers were not sent to disperse the racist gatherings," Mr Zkoor said.

He called on religious authorities to condemn such behaviour, which he said "surely contravenes the basic principles of the Jewish religion". Israel came to a virtual standstill as the country marked Yom Kippur, which started at sunset yesterday and was to end this evening. Public transport and air traffic stopped, as did television and radio programming, while schools and offices - including the Tel Aviv stock exchange - were closed. Pedestrians, skaters and cyclists took over the car-free roads.

Police stepped up security measures and the military shut down the Israeli occupied West Bank. *AFP