Quiet prevailed in Haifa today following the release this morning of a group of rioters who were arrested last Thursday after they damaged a number of stores and overturned and set fire to a number of cars in a slum quarter of this port city. However, steel-helmeted police still continued today to patrol the quarter.
A report on the riots was presented today to the Cabinet by Police Minister Behor Shitreet. Eleven policemen and an unknown number of the rioters were reported injured in the battle between the police and the mob. The General Zionist Party and the right-wing Herut, meanwhile, announced that they would raise the question of the rioting in Parliament.
Although some sources described the outbreak as “communal riot” of North African Jews, it was determined that it was actually an underworld mob which launched the rioting. The affair began when one of the members of the mob, a known drunkard, resisted arrest while drunk Wednesday night. Police trying to subdue him were forced to shoot and he was taken to a hospital where his condition was reported as serious but not dangerous.
As rumors spread that the wounded man, an immigrant from North Africa, had died, a group of his friends began a demonstration, marching with black flags. The police, believing the demonstration would subside, made no effort to intervene. When the demonstration got out of control, the police moved in. This happened after the demonstrators were reinforced by the arrival from neighboring towns of more North African immigrants.
The reinforced police, aided by fire brigade equipment, finally restored order toward nightfall. Conciliatory efforts were made by Mayor Abba Khoushi and his councillors and quiet was restored by Friday morning.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
