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Shabbat war escalates: Man seriously injured, five police officers
sustain light wounds as ultra-Orthodox protestors clash with security
forces across capital Saturday; dozens of rioters arrested Ronen Medzini
Latest Update: 06.28.09, 00:02 / Israel News Shabbat war escalates: A man of about 20 fell off a fence and sustained
serious wounds during an ultra-Orthodox protest in Jerusalem Saturday. A
six-year-old boy and five police officers were also wounded in violent
riots in the capital during the day.
However, by nighttime a vehicle equipped with a public address system
was traveling through Jerusalem's haredi neighborhoods on behalf of the
ultra-Orthodox sect and urging protestors, upset over the opening of a
municipal parking lot on Shabbat, to end the riots. Meanwhile, a senior Jerusalem Police official told Ynet that officers
"had no connection to the injury suffered by the young Orthodox man at
the protest this evening." The police official said the man fell off a fence during an illegal
Orthodox demonstration. "We condemn and denounce the haredi riots, and we stress that the police
will continue to firmly respond to lawbreakers, arrest them, and bring
them to justice," he said. At least 57 haredim detained Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf of the Council for the Sanctity of the Shabbat
told Ynet Saturday evening that "we got the most out of the mission we
took upon ourselves, as tens of thousands of residents went out to
protest the trampling of the Shabbat's sanctity." The rabbi stressed that leaders of the struggle are not assuming
responsibility for Saturday's riots, but rather, only for a mass rally
Friday, noting that the Shabbat violence "is not our way." He added that
the Council will continue to address the issue, but said community
leaders will decide whether to continue the ferocious protests next
Saturday. During the evening, police officers arrested at least 57 haredi
protestors across Jerusalem. Most detainees were nabbed at the entrance
to the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood in the capital. Hundreds
of rioters hurled stones, cans, glass battles and fruit at police while
chanting "Shabbes." Later in the evening, protestors burned garbage
dumpsters in the city. Earlier in the day, roughly 1,000 secular residents also hit the
streets, to protest what they referred to as "ultra-Orthodox bullying"
in the capital.
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