Twenty-two persons were arrested last night after hundreds of Orthodox Jews clashed with police In the Mea Shearim district during a protest against the jailing of two yeshiva students convicted of firebombing the “Eros” shop in Tel Aviv. At least eight demonstrators and several newsmen were injured as riot police swung clubs and hosed the crowd with green dye. One policeman was hit on the head with a stone and another was pummeled and had his shirt torn off by the demonstrators.
The protest rally brought several thousand Orthodox Jews to the central square of the district yesterday afternoon, They milled about shouting, pounding buses with their fists and blocked traffic. But no arrests were made until after nightfall when the crowd grew increasingly disorderly and tried to spill out into the streets leading from the square. Police authorities had refused last Sunday to grant the protestors a permit to parade through the city.
The demonstrators demanded the release on ball of Shmuel Wiesenstern and Israel Brand, both 19, who were convicted on Aug. 8 of firebombing the Tel Aviv shop that sells erotic literature and photos. The pair will be sentenced on Sunday.
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