Five members of the Neturei Karta sect were arrested late yesterday when several hundred ultra-Orthodox sect members refused to disperse a demonstration in front of Jerusalem’s new pool. Instead of leaving the area as directed, they stoned police cars and smashed windows in the area.
Meanwhile, operating on its first Saturday, the pool was overcrowded with every inch of dressing space–built for 3, 000 persons–occupied. Tickets for Saturday admission were on sale only up to Friday and people who sought to buy admissions on Saturday were turned away. Many attempted to scale the fence and crash the pool. Scalpers were selling tickets for two and a half pounds, triple their cost at the gate.
The Neturei Karta demonstration was held following a speech by Rabbi Amram Blau, sect leader who was released from prison Friday after President Yitzhak Ben Zvi pardoned him at the end of half his 10-month sentence. At first Rabbi Blau spurned the pardon, but later changed his mind because he had not asked for it nor signed the required bond of good behavior required of him. The Neturei Karta does not recognize the authority of the Israel Government.
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