By IRNA,
Gaza City : Israeli police have clashed with Jewish protesters in the northern city of Acre on the third day of violence involving Jews and the Arabs living in the occupied territories under Israel.
Police fired water cannon at a crowd of at least 200 people to prevent them from entering an Arab neighborhood.
The trouble broke out late on Wednesday after an Israeli-Arab man was assaulted for driving his car during Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Most of Israel comes to a standstill on Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement – for a somber day of fasting, during which it is considered offensive to drive in much of Israel.
The Arab man, Tawfik Jamal, was reportedly attacked by youths who said he was making noise intentionally.
Jamal is reported to have said he was simply driving to a property he owned in the eastern part of the city.
Israeli President Shimon Peres appealed for calm saying the violence would “not benefit anyone”.
Security forces were already on high alert, and some 500 extra officers had been deployed in Acre to assist the 200-strong local police force.
Tel Aviv radio said that the “large-scale” Jewish-Arab rioting, which erupted late on Wednesday, was the worst that the city had seen in recent years.
About one third of Acre’s population of almost 50,000 residents are Israeli-Arabs, with the highest concentration in the Old City.
Israeli-Arabs are people of Palestinian origin whose forbears remained in Israel after occupation of the Palestinians territories in 1948.
They number about one million – about one-fifth of the Israeli population – and although they have full rights as Israeli citizens, human rights groups say they face discrimination and exclusion.