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Comments:  32
Last update - 13:33 13/10/2008
Angry and confused, Acre residents wonder how everyday life will go on
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel News, Arabs, Acre 

Outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert called for an end to the violence between Jewish and Arab residents of Acre, saying that there was a feeling that the population of the city was being "held hostage by a group of extremists."

Olmert spoke at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, hours after the car of a Jewish Acre resident was torched before dawn as violence between the city's Jewish and Arab residents entered a fifth consecutive day.

However, at press time, the violence appeared to be diminishing, and although tension and anger were still palpable, attempts were being made to return to normalcy. Although police remained on alert, the large police contingent that worked to separate Jewish and Arab protesters had time to rest, and the numbers of police seen on the streets had been drastically reduced.
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So far, more than 54 people from both groups have been arrested for involvement in the riots. Some were released and others were remanded for 24 to 48 hours. Police said indictments have been formulated against four people, both Jews and Arabs.

Northern District Police commander Maj. Gen. Shimon Koren said police would deal severely with rioters of both groups.

In the housing project in the eastern part of town, it was easy to identify the Arab apartments by the damage they had suffered, with uniformed police stationed near some of the undamaged apartments. Meetings were underway all day at City Hall, where the education authorities decided to hold school classes on Monday as usual.

Mayor Shimon Lankri on Sunday said in a published statement to residents that events in the city had crossed red lines, the likes of which had not been seen in Acre. "The entire law enforcement system and the municipal authorities do not intend to ignore these events," he wrote.

Lankri also wrote that the city would remain on emergency footing until peace and quiet was restored. He recommended to parents to try and explain to their children what happened. He said that urges typical to teenagers led them to extreme reactions, and they should be encouraged to express their feelings within legal bounds. The statement included the phone numbers of the municipal psychological services and its education and welfare administrations.

President Shimon Peres is due to visit the city on Monday to meet with clergy and public figures from all communities.

A steady stream of officials visited Acre on Sunday, among them Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham Balila, who announced a PR campaign to bring domestic tourists to the Western Galilee, particularly Acre.

She also said a marketing program aimed at the Russian tourist market would be would be formulated for Acre.

Culture and Sports Minister Raleb Majadele came to the city in an unsuccessful last-ditch effort to persuade Mayor Lankri to change his mind about canceling to Acre fringe theater festival.

'Refugees in our own city'
The Acre municipality on Sunday had to deal for the first time since the Second Lebanon War with residents who had lost their homes. This time it was not because of Katyushas from Lebanon that did not differentiate between peoples, but the result of the recent vandalism and riots. This time, all the families who lost their homes were Arab.

Dozens of people gathered at the entrance to City Hall on Sunday to demand that the municipality finds them alternatives residences. The homes of some had been lost to arson, others were hit by rocks and some people were simply afraid for their lives if they went home.

That last group includes the Ramal family: a widowed mother, a son and daughter. The daughter, Walah, 19, tried together with other women to get to their apartment on Alkalai Street, protected by municipal inspectors, but they quickly fled after a crowd of young Jewish men threatened them. "I can't believe we're refugees in our own city," she said.

The city said it had found hotel rooms for everyone in the meantime, as it searched for more permanent alternative housing.

Preventable violence
The violence in Acre would not have happened if the recommendations of the Or Committee had been implemented, the chairman of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, Shauki Hatib said on Sunday. Speaking at meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres, Hatib said: "We have no choice. We have to go on living together."

Knesset members from the United Arab List-Ta'al, Hadash and Balad and the deputy chairman of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Kamal Hatib, participated in the meeting with Olmert. They presented to Olmert and Peres a petition signed by a quarter of a million Arab Israelis demanding a neutral committee of inquiry to investigate the events of October 2000, in which several days of violence broke out inside Israel and 12 Israeli Arabs and a Palestinian were shot dead by the police.
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  1.   Police chased away by residents? 03:01  |  Steve 13/10/08
  2.   how about arab violance against jewish stores and people??? 05:10  |  b. moskowitz 13/10/08
  3.   200 arabs with axes 06:24  |  dave s. 13/10/08
  4.   Yes Steve, the same as the original incident... 06:34  |  BBSNews 13/10/08
  5.   No Steve 07:40  |  Andy 13/10/08
  6.   Give me a break dave s. 07:57  |  BBSNews 13/10/08
  7.   Glossing over Arab extemism will only hurt 07:57  |  Ilan 13/10/08
  8.   religion 09:15  |  shimon 13/10/08
  9.   Steve #1 10:20  |  Esther 13/10/08
  10.   Equality 10:31  |  Hirz 13/10/08
  11.   # 7 excuse me, ilan...but any "progrom" in acre 10:39  |  eric 13/10/08
  12.   Just Go On 11:01  |  Baruch Gold 13/10/08
  13.   riots in Acre 12:06  |  Rachel Simson 13/10/08
  14.   Eric, you just ignore facts 12:14  |  Ilan 13/10/08
  15.   I find it very strange, all the posters 13:14  |  Lynn 13/10/08
  16.   Esther, Steve, eric and Ilan - I`m getting educated reading you 14:25  |  S 13/10/08
  17.   Lynn,don`t question BBSNews wisdom 16:36  |  Peter 13/10/08
  18.   Who are the extremists? 16:47  |  Great White North 13/10/08
  19.   Everyday life will be easy, if.... 17:38  |  Fritz T. 13/10/08
  20.   Why lie Lynn? 17:43  |  BBSNews 13/10/08
  21.   Peter, do you do any research? 17:54  |  BBSNews 13/10/08
  22.   # 14 to ilan re: "facts" 21:30  |  eric 13/10/08
  23.   "Bs..t" news,your tiresome prop doesn`t explain why pals uprooted 23:18  |  Absolute Sweden 13/10/08
  24.   left wing - anti Israeli - nut BBS News 01:43  |  Peter 14/10/08
  25.   The police`s permissive behvior encourages crimes. 08:00  |  Jean Van Daem 14/10/08
  26.   #7 Llan 14:57  |  John Allen 14/10/08
  27.   #17 Peter, you are so right on. 15:06  |  John Allen 14/10/08
  28.   BBS news and England 15:17  |  John Allen U.S.A. 14/10/08
  29.   Nonselective assessment of Acre riots 15:27  |  H.H.M. 14/10/08
  30.   Riots 19:12  |  Jr 14/10/08
  31.   Tatiana Susskind condemned to 2 years jail in 2003 00:39  |  HS 15/10/08
  32.   # 29 to h.h.m. re: "israeli law" 08:01  |  eric 15/10/08
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