Clashes between Arabs and police continue into the night
Police was pushing back some 200 rioters from the Palestinian village of Sharafat, while in Jerusalem's Old City, dozens were throwing stones and fireworks.
Clashes between Arab protesters and police continued into the night on Saturday, after raging in the Triangle area, East Jerusalem and Wadi Ara all day.
Four firefighting teams were battling a fire near Har Homa that was believed to have been started started from a Molotov cocktail.
In the Palestinian village of Sharafat, near the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo, some 200 protesters were rioting. A police force was working to push them back to the village.
In the Antonia neighborhood in Jerusalem's Old City, dozens of Arab youths were throwing stones and fireworks at police. A police force used crowd dispersal means.
Earlier in the day, dozens of Qalansawe residents were dispersed after rioting and pelting a Yasam force with stones. One protester was arrested for stone-throwing.
Following the violent clashes, Qalansawe Mayor Abdel Baset Salame held an urgent meeting with city dignitaries, school principles, council members and sheikhs and asked them all to work to stop the rioting.
"In the early morning hours I arrived at a scene of rioting. I tried to calm the youths down but unfortunately I was unable to," he told Ynet.
"We condemn all of these acts, and condemn attacks against Jews," he added, saying that while he supported protest, he did not support violent protest.
The usual calm in Qalansawe brings many Jewish visitors into the city, but "incidents like this destroy the good things we're building," Salame said.
In Tayibe, some 400 people were protesting near the main road. Protesters clashed with police, throwing stones at the Yasam force at the scene. Police used rubber bullets, tear gas, stun grenades and a truck of sewage water to disperse the crowd. Protesters were calling out "we will sacrifice our lives and our blood for Al-Aqsa." They said they will continue fighting the IDF in the West Bank.
A driver in a private vehicle attempted to run over several policemen in Tayibe. The Sharon District Commander, Koby Shabtay, fired four bullets at the car's back wheels to stop it. The driver fled the scene.
Dozens of residents were also protesting at the entrance of Ar'ara on Highway 65 in Wadi Ara. They were hurling rocks, burning tires and throwing fireworks at police. Police stopped them from marching towards the main junction junction outside the village and blocking traffic. A policeman was lightly injured from a stone thrown at him, and one protester was arrested for disrubing the peace.
In Nazareth, some 1,000 people were demonstrating on the city's main road. About 100 Arab youths burned tires at HaMusachim Junction in the city. A police force was working to disperse them. The north-bound road from Nazareth was closed for traffic.
On Ma'ale Yitzhak road in Nazareth Illit, some 200 residents protested the rioting in neighboring Nazareth.
As a result of the rioting, Route 5614, that leads from Highway 57 to Qalansawe and Tayibe, as well as Highway 444, were closed for traffic.
A counter-demonstration was held at the entrance to the Jewish town of Kfar Yona on Highway 75. Protesters said the unplanned demonstration was in protest of the rioting in Qalansawe and the attacks against Jewish drivers in the Arab city on Friday night.
Five masked Arab youths fired fireworks near East Jerusalem neighborhood of Umm Tuba near the entrance to Israeli settlement Har Homa on Saturday night. Police forces used crowd dispersal means.
In Yafa an-Naseriyye, protesters burned tires at the entrance to the municipality.
A resident from Kabul filed a complaint at the Shefa'amr police station saying that a stone was thrown at his car while he was driving that injured his three-year-old girl. The girl was in light condition. Police opened an investigation into the incident.
Earlier Saturday morning, Molotov cocktails were thrown towards the community of Mei Ami, located near Wadi Ara. Police forces were dispatched to the area and have launched an investigation into the incident. No injuries were reported.
A bloody night
The recent violent riots in the Arab sector first broke out on Friday as Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian youth some believe was killed by far-right Israelis, was laid to rest.
The boy's father spoke to Ynet and said he demanded Israel find his son's killer and destroy his house, as it did for the killers of the three Israeli teens found dead after being presumed kidnapped since June.
Hostility that had simmered since Eyal Yifrach, Gil-Ad Shaer and Naftali Frenkel were abducted on June 12, triggering army sweeps of the West Bank, boiled over this week upon the discovery of their bodies and the Palestinian's slaying after they were laid to rest.
Towards midnight Friday, the riots spread to Arab communities in the Triangle area, including Qalansawe, Tayibe, Tira and Baqa al-Gharbiyye.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that rioters in Qalansawe deserve a "deterrent, unequivocal punishment." In a Facebook post, the minister wrote: "The police acted correctly in immediately arrested the Arabs that rioted near Qalansawe and the Triangle.
"Now we expect that the Court system will also use an iron fist in their treatment of the issue and impose punishments that will convey a deterrent, unequivocal punishment to those who enjoy an Israeli citizenship and act as terrorists.
These events demonstrate once again that these people do not belong in the State of Israel – and until that is resolved, their place is in jail."
Meretz Chairwoman Zehava Gal-On responded to Lieberman's statement, saying "It's a shame that the Foreign Minister continues to kindle a fire of hate between Jewish and Arab citizens and in that give impetus to racism and nationalism.
"Arab citizens in Israel have a right to demonstrate in their homeland, and that does not depend on the whims of Minister Lieberman. It is no secret that Lieberman has been attempting, for a while, to change the status of the Arab citizens of Israel, revoke their citizenship and transfer them, and he latches on to every opportunity to carry out his proposals."
Omri Efraim and Ahiya Raved contributed to this report.
