'Acre could be just the beginning,' fear mixed-city mayors

Jews and Arabs in mixed cities on Saturday warned that riots similar to the ones that erupted in Acre over Yom Kippur could take place in cities like Lod, Ramle and Jaffa, each of which has a combination of underprivileged Jewish and Arab communities.

Community activists in Lod said over the weekend that they feared clashes between the Jewish and Arab communities.

"I don't know if it will happen in a day, two days or two months but it's certainly a possibility," said Bothaina Debit, a community activist in Lod. That city's Arab community, she said, is suffering from socio-economic distress that it will have trouble sustaining for much longer.

"It happened in Acre, but I thought it would happen in Lod because there are masses of Arab residents who have nothing to lose, and the poor Jews are also stuck here. Acre could be just the beginning."

Rumors spread among the Arab public Saturday that right-wing Jewish groups were acting with evacuees from Gush Katif to settle in mixed cities. Consequently a minor incident could spark a huge riot.

"We're not talking about an idyllic coexistence. The situation is explosive, things could be much worse than the Acre riots," Aviv Wasserman, director of the Lod Foundation, told Haaretz Saturday.

The Acre riots should be a warning signal to all those involved, according to Wasserman. "Too many people are sitting on the fence. This is the time to act - for both government and social organizations. We must invest in the mixed cities," he said.

The Arab MKs in the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee decided not to convene their umbrella organization to discuss the Acre events, in the hope that postponing a meeting would help things calm down in the city. Similarly, a number of them said they would not visit Acre now, out of fear that their presence would provoke similar visits from radical right-wing MKs.

Arab leaders Saturday dismissed Hamas and Islamic Jihad calls over the weekend to renew the confrontation with Israel. The organizations said there was no diffference between Acre and Gaza, or Jerusalem and Ramallah.

MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List) told the Abu Dhabi television network Saturday that he rejected calls to open a third intifada following the Acre events.

"These calls are harmful. We'll defend ourselves against racism in public and political ways, and not opt for an intifada," Tibi said.