Arab leaders publicly condemn Acre driver

On Saturday, leaders of the Arab community met with Northern District Police chief Cmdr. Shimon Koren and the head of the Acre police station.

They agreed that the Arab leaders would publicly condemn the driver who sparked the riots when he drove into a Jewish neighborhood late Wednesday night on the eve of Yom Kippur.

MK Abbas Zakour (United Arab List) said the Arab leadership in the city met on Saturday morning and discussed ways to avoid similar violence in the future.

He said that an announcement condemning the driver for entering a Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur would be issued, because despite the fact that the driver didn't intend to intentionally offend observant Jews, he "should have thought of a thousand ways to get home and avoid using his car at all costs."

NU/NRP Chairman MK Uri Ariel was set to register a complaint Sunday with the Knesset's Ethics Committee against Zakour, who, according to Ariel, incited Arab rioters and called upon Arab youths to rush to the scene of the conflict, where they proceeded to pelt local residents with rocks.

"If on Yom Kippur 2008 in the state of Israel a crowd of Arabs can yell 'death to the Jews' and vandalize Jewish property then there is no coexistence," Ariel said. "We must treat this with all due gravity."

On Saturday evening, representatives of the Jewish and Arab communities met to devise a plan to restore peace to the town.

Three people were lightly wounded in Saturday evening's round of violence. Large police forces were on the scene and both Jews and Arabs threw rocks not only at one another but also at the officers trying to restore order.

Police arrested three Jewish rioters. Overall, 54 people were arrested for rioting.

An Arab family's house was set ablaze on Saturday night. No casualties were reported but the house sustained serious damage.

Two Arab-owned apartments in the Jewish, eastern section of Acre were torched on Friday night.

Police said on Saturday evening that the city was under control, despite criticism that not enough rioters had been arrested.

Galilee police spokesman Eran Shaked expressed surprise at media reports saying that Acre Mayor Shimon Lancry had called for more arrests.

Lancry, who had met with police brass on Saturday evening, was quoted as saying that a firm police hand would quickly bring the rioting under control.

"I attended this meeting, and the mayor expressed his satisfaction with police performance," Shaked said.

"We've been acting with determination to bring about calm. We have 700 officers in the city, and no major incident is taking place. We are in control, and the city is beginning to calm down," he added.

Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said the force's central mission was to safeguard lives, adding that officers had succeeded in that mission so far.