Police arrested a total of eight people in Jerusalem and Jaffa on Sunday night after clashes in the two cities between Arabs and Jews.
Three protesters were detained in Jaffa detained after clashes broke out in the wake of an attack earlier Sunday on Rabbi Eliyahu Mali, the head of a yeshiva in the predominantly Arab neighborhood of Ajami.
In Jerusalem, there were riots close to the Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City, during which five Arabs were arrested on suspicion of throwing stones and attacking police officers.
In Jaffa, several dozen Jews and several dozen Arabs protested in close proximity to one another with police separating the two groups.
The protests eventually escalated, with Arab demonstrators hurling stones at police, letting off fireworks and setting fire to garbage cans. Two policemen were lightly injured.
The Arab protesters shouted slogans including "Settlers go home" and "Jaffa for Jaffans."
One of the demonstrators shouted: "There will be hell here in Jaffa! Hell!"
Later, Arab protesters began throwing stones, leading the police to start make arrests and send in mounted officers.
Several roads in Jaffa were blocked and the central Yefet Street was strewn with garbage cans that had been set alight.
About an hour after the clashes erupted and the Jewish protesters had dispersed, police announced that the demonstration was being classed as illegal, and ordered the Arab residents of Jaffa to leave the scene.
Some expressed outrage at the conduct of the police officers, but most did apparently disperse.
One Arab resident told a Ynet photographer documenting the clashes that the police had used far more heavy-handed methods of dealing with the Arab protesters than the Jewish ones.
"Look at the police, at what are they doing. The settlers [local Jews] are not being treated like this. Are we animals?" he said.
Another local resident said: "Gentlemen, see how they treat us like animals, but they embraced the settlers. We will stay in Jaffa, this will not be like Jerusalem or Hebron, Jaffa will remain Jaffa. There will be no settlers here, it is over. This is it."
The Jewish protesters at the intersection of Yefet and Baal Shem Tov streets carried signs that read: "The people of Israel are alive," "We are not defeated so easily" and "Enough of the violence in Jaffa."
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Garbage cans set alight dur4ing protests in Jaffa on Sunday night
(Photo: Yariv Katz)
In Jerusalem, police clashed with hundreds of protesters outside the Old City, firing stun grenades and a water cannon to disperse the crowd.
Similar clashes have occurred nightly since the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began last week.
Muslim residents of the city say they typically gather on the stairs outside the Damascus Gate each evening during Ramadan but that this year police put up barriers to keep away the crowds.
The move has angered Muslims who like to meet at the plaza to pass the Ramadan nights after the daily dawn-to-dusk fast ends.
Police accuse the crowds of disorderly conduct and throwing stones and fireworks at security forces.
Israel's public broadcaster Kan showed videos of large crowds clashing with police, who used stun grenades and sprayed water to disperse the gathering.
Police said they had made at least three arrests, and the Palestinian Red Crescent medical service said four people were hurt in the clashes. There were no immediate details on their conditions.