Town tries to restore calm after Arab-Jewish clashes

A police officer stopped an Israeli man yesterday from nearing an Arab home in Acre, Israel, a town hit by two days of rioting. (URIEL SINAI/GETTY IMAGES)

ACRE, Israel - Police dispersed hundreds of Jewish protesters with water cannons yesterday in this northern Israel city, trying to ease tensions after two days of rioting that shook a mixed Jewish-Arab community.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 300 residents attempted to enter an Arab neighborhood in Acre. Police forces stopped the crowd and arrested three suspects, he said.

Forces were already on high alert yesterday after riots broke out between Arabs and Jews in Acre on Wednesday, the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur. Police also increased security in Jerusalem for fear the violence could spill over.

The riots in this working-class town brought to the fore the relations between Arabs and Jews inside Israel, ties which are typically peaceful but uneasy.

More than a quarter of Acre's 46,000 residents are Arabs, members of an ethnic minority that makes up about 20 percent of Israel's citizens.

President Shimon Peres yesterday called on Acre's residents to renew their coexistence.

"There is not a person in Israel who does not regret what happened in Acre," he said. "No one will profit from these riots, everyone will lose."