Haredim hurl stones at police in J'lem
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox men try to block road in Mea Shearim neighborhood in protest of Jaffa graves excavation. Police disperse crowd using water cannons
Hundreds of haredim protested in the Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem Monday night and tried to block the neighborhood's Haim Bar-Lev Street, but were stopped by police and special patrol unit officers.
In response, the haredim hurled stones at the security forces, who responded with a water cannon and dispersed the rioters.
The riot began around 9:30 pm. Demonstrators set fire to trash cans at the city's Shabbat Square and several of them headed towards the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway 1.
After they tried to block the road, police officers used a water cannon to disperse them with force. Some 100 police and special patrol unit officers took part in the riot's dispersal.
The rioters then tried to roll trash cans down Highway 1, and police pushed them back.
Haredim threw eggs at the water cannon from a nearby building, and in response it was aimed at the assailants, resulting in the shattering of the building's windows.
The haredim are protesting against plans to relocate ancient graves in Jaffa, and were demonstrating against the fact that senior rabbis had been sprayed with pepper spray.
They may also be protesting against a High Court of Justice decision to cancel assured income payments to some 10,000 yeshiva students.
Flyers hung across haredi neighborhoods urged residents to rally: "we must not abide this abhorrent abuse of the living and the dead, nor this abominable trampling of the Torah, (in the manner of ) only the most vile of nations – and even they have some respect and consideration for the rabbis, much more than these Amalekites."
Monday afternoon, some 200 ultra-Orthodox men rioted on Jaffa's Andromeda Hill on Monday afternoon in protest of excavation works taking place in an area where they say Jewish graves are located.
The clashes began last month and have been taking place almost every day.
Massive police forces were dispatched to the area to stop the protestors from disrupting the work at the site.
Following the riots, the police closed Louis Pasteur Street after the protestors gathered on the road. Three people were arrested.
On Saturday, three police officers were lightly injured during a protest against Shabbat desecration in Jerusalem. Some 150 haredim hurled stones and glass bottles at police officers in Mea Shearim.
One officer was treated at the scene by a Magen David Adom team. Police noted that most of the demonstrators were dispersed by force and that one youth was arrested after hurling stones at police officers.
