- Title: ISRAEL: Violence as far-right march provokes anger in Arab Israeli town
- Date: 25th March 2009
- Summary: UMM EL FAHM, ISRAEL (MARCH 24, 2009) (REUTERS) ARAB-ISRAELI RESIDENTS STANDING AT ENTRANCE TO CITY, WAVING PALESTINIAN FLAGS ISRAELI POLICE MEN IN RIOT GEAR FIRING SMOKE GRENADES ON ARAB-ISRAELI DEMONSTRATORS PROTESTING AGAINST RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS' RALLY IN TOWN VARIOUS OF CLASHES VARIOUS OF RIOTERS THROWING STONES AT POLICEMEN MORE OF POLICE MEN FIRING SMOKE GRENAD
- Embargoed: 9th April 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Israel
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA854554I5SUCD9SDM98FV5ES8Q
- Story Text: Israeli police clash with residents of an Arab-Israeli town as far-right activists march.
Israeli police in riot gear have clashed with demonstrators protesting a march by far-right activists in an Arab-Israeli town.
Hundreds of police blocked streets in Umm El-Fahm on Tuesday (March 24) to prevent the two sides meeting head on.
Angry residents declared a general strike and vowed to bar buses from entering the town.
But the far-right group had the backing of the High Court and police reinforcements were brought in to ensure the march could go ahead.
An Israeli police spokesman said violence flared after the parade by 100 far-right activists, who were waving Israeli flags, had finished.
Police responded to stone-throwing with stun grenades and tear gas, he said.
Far-right politicians, including Yisrael Beiteinu leader, Avigdor Lieberman, have long proposed an agreement under which Israel would swap land, including Israel's largest Arab town, Umm El-Fahm, in which many of its 1.5 million Arab citizens live, for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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