JAFFA – Dystopian scenes unfolded in the Israeli city of Jaffa Wednesday, with residents burning tires and throwing rocks at police after an alleged quarantine violator refused to identify himself.
Jaffa, neighboring the coastal city of Tel Aviv, is home to a large Muslim population and has been the scene of many clashes with police in the past.
Six people were arrested in the clashes, including one woman who eye witnesses claimed was pushed to the floor by police, causing further escalations.
Rioters also protested police efforts to break up a gathering of Muslim worshipers praying on the sidewalk outside a mosque, and violating the 2 meter (6.5 feet) restriction. The mosque’s imam was among those arrested.
The clashes were the result of a routine check conducted by police cars stationed in the area on a 16-year-old youth. The youth refused to identify himself and was suspected of violating a quarantine order. His family members and neighbors then came out and began attacking officers, police said.
The skirmish quickly escalated as more people joined the scene and began to throw stones at police officers and burn tires and large garbage skips.
Hundreds of police officers, firefighters, and border police officers were deployed to the area. Police used stun grenades to disperse the rioters.
“Rocks and Molotov cocktails were thrown at us,” District Police Commander Haim Bublin told Breitbart News.
Eye witnesses complained that the police response was not justified.
“There was no need for such police violence,” local resident Mohammed Aqbil said. “It just made people more angry and stoked the fires and the [residents] already have tremendous mistrust of the police.”
The police officer who arrested the youth alleged that he only wanted to tell the youth to return to his home but was quickly attacked by members of his family.
The detainees were brought to the police station and are being investigated for breach of order and assaulting police officers.