Driver who sparked Acre riots freed to house arrest, has license suspended

The Galilee District Police are leaning toward recommending pressing charges against Tawfik Jamal, the Acre resident who sparked the riots that began during Yom Kippur last week after driving through a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in the mixed city, Haaretz has learned.

Jamal was released yesterday to house arrest by the Haifa District Court. During his remand hearing his attorney argued that Jamal's arrest was motivated by political considerations. They told the court their client denies the allegation against him. He was arrested on Monday on suspicion of harming religious sensitivities and reckless endangerment in connection to the incident. The maximum penalty for both charges is four years in prison. His driver's license was suspended for 30 days.

The city remained quiet yesterday, but Acre Police Chief Superintendent Avi Edrey said police forces would remain deployed until after the intermediate days of Sukkot and the Simhat Torah holiday next week.

Police fear that celebrations during the holiday could lead to a renewed conflagration between Jewish and Arab residents.

Yesterday Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz toured the city and met with Mayor Shimon Lankri to discuss ways to maintain calm.

Meanwhile, Mossawa Center, The Advocacy Center for Arabs in Israel, organized a visit by European Parliament Member David Hammerstein Mintz of Spain, who met yesterday with Arab families driven from their homes by the unrest.

Large numbers of visitors thronged the "peace sukkah" set up in Rabin Square, at the entrance to Acre's Old City, by youth groups from the kibbutz movement and Hashomer Hatza'ir in an effort to encourage calm in the city.

Among the visitors to the booth were Rabbi Michael Melchior and Sheikh Abdallah Nimr Darwish, the founder of the Islamic Movement in Israel