| Subscribe! | Judaica Gifts |
| RSS | Advertise with Us | Blogs | Judaica Gifts |
| 
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Reconciliation efforts continue Reconciliation efforts are continuing among Israel's Jewish and Arab leaders, despite isolated incidents of stone-throwing and a firebomb attack on a Jewish religious school in Jaffa. In a message to a meeting of Jewish and Arab council heads in Ma'alot, Prime Minister Ehud Barak called on Israeli Arab leaders to denounce violence perpetrated by an extremist minority, and not to heed those inciting hatred and hostility. Barak pledged that the government would act to reduce gaps between the Arab and Jewish sectors and would soon present a four-year, NIS 2 billion development plan for the Arab sector. The meeting was initiated by Ma'alot-Tarshiha mayor Shlomo Buhbut as part of efforts to repair relations between Jews and Arabs in the North after last week's widescale rioting by Israeli Arabs. Thirteen Arabs and a Jew were killed and hundreds injured, including scores of police and border police. Nearly 40 Jews and Arabs from the Ha'amakim district have been indicted for crimes such as blocking roads, hurling stones, attacking police, and damaging property. More incidents were reported yesterday, including a firebomb attack on a Jewish religious school in Jaffa. The school was empty at the time, but one classroom was burned and serious damage was caused to other parts of the building. Police suspect that extremist Jaffa Arabs were behind the attack. There also was more stone-throwing and tire-burning late Wednesday night on the Wadi Ara highway near the Umm el-Fahm junction, closing the junction for several hours. Two people were lightly injured and more than 20 cars damaged. The riots' toll continues to be felt in the marked drop in tourism in the North and the threat that two relatively new hotels, the Renaissance in Nazareth and the Marriott in Upper Nazareth, could be closed. In a letter to Nazareth Mayor Ramez Jeraise, Rafi Winer, director-general of the Marriott chain in Israel, said he had been shocked to learn of the cancellation of events planned for October 1 in Nazareth because of the proposed general strike of the Arab sector, which the mayor had warned in advance would lead to disturbances. Since then, Nazareth has made world headlines because of the violent demonstrations. This resulted in widescale cancellations and no new bookings, and there is little alternative but to reduce overhead by cutting staff and perhaps even closing the hotels, Winer warned.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
