A tenuous coexistence

October 10, 2008 - 10:57 AM by

AcreRiot.jpgThe Yom Kippur shutdown usually works. Whether you’re a secular Jews or a non-Jewish resident of Israel, you know that on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, you don’t drive or play music in public out of respect to those who are observing the holiday.

But one man in the northern coastal mixed Jewish-Arab city of Acre didn’t abide by the unwritten societal rule – and as a result, all hell broke loose.

According to The Jerusalem Post’s report,
Tawfik Jamal – a resident of Acre’s Old City – made his way to the predominantly Jewish Ben-Gurion neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, blasting loud music from his vehicle., Jamal denied he had intended to provoke local residents, saying he had driven with his 18-year-old son and the son’s 20-year-old friend carefully and quietly from the Old City to the Ben-Gurion neighborhood, three kilometers away, to pick up his daughter from her fiancée’s home.

But police dismissed Jamal’s claims.
“This was a provocation. An Arab driver arrived in a Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur with blaring music, and refused to leave when asked to by local residents. We believe he was intoxicated. This was a deliberate act,” Galilee Police spokesman Ch.-Supt. Eran Shaked said.

The verbal confrontation between Jamal and the local residents quickly deteriorated into violence, as rocks and bottles were thrown at Jamal’s vehicle.
According to Jamal, he and his two passengers fled the car. The three were taken to hospital where they were treated for light wounds and discharged.

And then, to show you how rumors can spread faster than reason, false reports that Arabs were seriously harmed or killed by Jews reached the Old City, and then things began escalating.

Responding to the rumors, hundreds of Arabs set out from the Old City toward the Ben-Gurion neighborhood, walking down a main road, smashing store windows and cars along the way. Reports said the mob shouted “Kill the Jews,” “Allahu Akbar,” and “If you come out of your homes, you will die.”

At the same time, a few hundred Jews had congregated in the streets of the Ben-Gurion neighborhood. Fearing a deadly clash, police acted quickly, mobilizing “a very large force” to prevent the two groups from confronting one another, police said.

So, was it a deliberate provocation from an Acre Arab? An overreaction from the Acre Jews? And was the escalation simply the culmination of animosity that’s been built up between the two sides over years of living near each other?

Let’s not forget that in the scores of other areas in the country – in Haifa and the Galilee and in Jerusalem – there weren’t any similar reports. Let’s hope this was an aberration, and not a sign of a deterioration in relations between Israel’s Jews and Arabs.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , • Category: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Religion 

Comments

5 Comments on A tenuous coexistence

  1. David-Joe on Sat, Oct 11th 2008 1:11 AM

    2. It was a direct provocation – unfortunately their are Arabs living in Israel. They are technically Israelis but they would be extremely happy if Israel were destroyed.

    The Arab culture is barbaric and savage as evidenced in every single Arab country – where individual rights are not recognized although of course the world overlooks this and pretends.

  2. Dan on Sun, Oct 12th 2008 12:21 AM

    3. Although this may have been a provocation, it is never wise to react to such with violence. Both sides were wrong IMO.

  3. Mark on Sun, Oct 12th 2008 3:07 AM

    4. “Although this may have been a provocation, it is never wise to react to such with violence. Both sides were wrong IMO.”

    True. The Jews should have just sat there and taken it.

  4. sheldan on Mon, Oct 13th 2008 1:33 AM

    5. I think I am closer to Mark’s opinion than to Dan’s, but although David-Joe’s may have some truth, it is not helpful.

    I am assuming, of course, that “The Jews should have just sat there and taken it” is sarcastic.

    In any event, it was the Arab that drove into the neighborhood on Yom Kippur with music blaring that is at fault. There is no moral equivalence here–even if the Jews overreacted, this Arab was the one who started the whole confrontation. I also hope that this does not mean that Akko Jews and Arabs cannot continue to live in peace, but if indeed the Israeli Arabs would prefer to see Israel destroyed even though they enjoy some advantages living in Israel, this is a real problem regarding the ability of Jews and Arabs to live together there.

  5. David-Joe on Fri, Oct 17th 2008 1:25 AM

    6. My experience in Lebanon in the early 80′s was that when we hit extremely hard regardless over even a minor incident, the issue was settled and the Arabs were rattled. They have not changed.

    You see they start out with the bully mentality – that of the aggressor from societies that have no respect for humanity – as Israelis we do not have that. We are always acting with the safety and security of Israel in our minds and a desire for peaceful co-existence and the Jewish concept of the sanctity of life.

    The Arabs have not given up the idea of the Mufti and his friend Hitler.

    Just think how incredible the mid-east could be with peace. We have the resources, the people, the weather and the Jewish creative mind.

Leave a Comment





© 2012 ISRAELITY | Sitemap