Israeli police scuffled with protesters in an Arab neighborhood of Tel Aviv for a second night late Monday after the assault of a rabbi over the weekend.
The protesters, including Arabs and Jews, say Jewish nationalist religious groups are buying up property in the traditionally Arab district of Jaffa, which has rapidly gentrified in recent years as luxury housing has gone up.
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Protesters hold a demonstration against right wing groups taking over houses in Jaffa
(Photo: AFP)
Video taken late Monday showed protesters and plainclothes police pushing and shoving as the police appeared to take a young Arab boy away in an unmarked squad car with flashing lights.
The police said a “young male” was briefly detained for setting off fireworks and then released “due to his age” without providing further details.
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Police detain a boy as Israeli left wing protesters and local residents demonstrate against right wing groups attempt to purchase property in the quarter
(Photo: AFP)
The latest tensions began Sunday when two Arab men punched and kicked Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, the head of a local yeshiva, while he was out looking at properties, according to local media.
Police arrested the men, and right-wing politicians condemned the attack as a hate crime.
Rival protests were held that night, with police forming a barrier between religious Jews condemning the attack and mostly Arab residents demonstrating against police. Some protesters later hurled rocks and fireworks at the police.
Jaffa was a major trading port before the creation of Israel and the 1948 War of Independence , when many of its Palestinian residents fled or were driven from their homes. Today, Jaffa is a trendy district of Tel Aviv that is home to both Jews and Arabs.