Akko Arabs denounce Yom Kippur drive

The Arab community in Akko has announced it will distribute a flier condemning the use of a vehicle by an Arab resident on Yom Kippur.

Three days after the tentative coexistence between the city's Jewish and Arab residents deteriorated into violent riots, leaders from the Arab sector say it does not matter if Tawfiq Jamal's decision to drive that night was justified or not, but he should have made an effort to find an alternative way home.

Representatives from both sides are expected to meet later this evening to discuss the situation.

MK Abas Zkoor (United Arab List – Ta'al), himself a resident of Akko, spoke with Ynet prior to the meeting: "We'll talk candidly about our pain. I'm confident we can come to term and restore order to the city by tonight."

Twelve people were arrested on Friday, the third consecutive night the city has been paralyzed by riots. Three residents were lightly injured, as were several police officers.

"We decided to write the flier condemning the use of a car on Yom Kippur in Hebrew. It will be distributed in the neighborhood where the incident occurred, this evening or tomorrow at the latest," said MK Zkoor, adding that the decision to take action had been agreed upon in a meeting held by the city's Arab

leadership – which included the deputy mayor, Arab municipal councilmen, radio personality Zoher Bahalul and Zkoor.

After the meeting Zkoor and a number of local leaders contacted their Jewish counterparts and offered a sit-down. "We shared our decisions and they took our advice, to sit together and speak candidly about our pain, but with our eyes to the future and not what happened in the past, because the city and its residents have already suffered. We'll look ahead and think how we can get back to normal.

The Arab leadership continues to slam the Jewish residents' reaction to the incident, but said it unconditionally denounced Jamal's drive.