Racist "Israeli" police arrest man attacked for driving on Yom Kippur

Source: AFP, 14-10-2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: "Israeli" police arrested a Palestinian-"Israeli" man who drove his car during the Yom Kippur holiday in an incident which sparked four nights of rioting in the northern town of Acre, police said on Tuesday. "Tawfik Jamal was remanded in custody for three days for reckless endangerment and harming religious sensitivities," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Jamal, who was detained on Monday night, had earlier apologized for driving on October 8 during the Yom Kippur Jewish holiday when virtually all of "Israel's" Jewish citizens respect a religious ban on driving and observant Jews fast and pray.
Palestinian-"Israeli" lawmaker Ahmad Tibi strongly criticized the arrest.
"It is the first time anyone is arrested for harming religious sensitivities," he said, calling for Jamal's immediate release so as not to exacerbate tensions.
"Police caved in to pressure from the fascist right which demanded his arrest, demonstrating it is a Jewish, racist and idiotic police," Tibi told AFP.
"I wonder if the "Israeli" government will in future arrest Jews who eat or drink in mixed cities during Ramadan," he said in reference to the holy Muslim month of fasting.
At least three people were injured during the clashes that broke out after when Tawfik drove through a conservative Jewish neighborhood of Acre.
A group of Jewish youths assaulted him, accusing him of deliberately making noise and disrupting the sanctity of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Hundreds of Palestinian-"Israelis" then took to the streets, damaging around 100 cars and 40 shops, according to police. On the ensuing four nights, Jewish and Arab rioters clashed with each other and with police.
Palestinians with "Israeli" citizenship, descendants of those who remained in the Jewish state after the 1948 war that followed its creation, make up around 20 percent of the "Israeli" population and suffer systematic discrimination.