JERUSALEM: Two Arab-owned apartments were set ablaze in the Israeli town of Acre amid clashes between Jews and Arabs, police said Saturday.
Rioting in Acre – one of only a few mixed Arab-Jewish towns in Israel – first erupted on Wednesday, during observances of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.
The violence has continued since then with hundreds of Arabs and Jews at times throwing stones at one another and vandalizing shops and cars. Police sent reinforcements.
Police said Saturday that two empty apartments owned by Arabs in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood have been torched.
The unrest surged again late Saturday with residents briefly hurling stones at one another before police forces restored calm. Overall, 12 people are in custody for rioting and eight are under house arrest.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called on both sides in the city to restore calm.
Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel s population. They enjoy full rights but have suffered from discrimination under successive Israeli governments.
The worst clashes between Israeli Arabs and Jews in recent years occurred in October 2000 when thousands of Israeli Arabs rioted in the north of the country for several days in solidarity with the Palestinian uprising that was then erupting in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. -AP
