Ten additional members of the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta sect were detained by police today in a demonstration which grew out of the Israeli authorities releasing leaders of the sect from jail for the Passover holiday.
On the recommendation of Premier David Ben Gurion, Rabbi Amram Balu and 16 of his supporters who had been convicted of disturbing the peace in connection with protests against the building of a pool for mixed bathing in Jerusalem were paroled from jail for the holidays. However, since the regulations provide that a prisoner may be paroled for only 48 hours at a time, the Neturei Karta leaders were required to return today for a brief period of detention before being paroled again.
The return was converted into a new demonstration when supporters of Rabbi Blau raised him on their shoulders and carried him through Jerusalem’s streets to the police station tonight. By the time they reached Jaffa Road, the city’s main thoroughfare, they had attracted a crowd which several times blocked traffic. Attempting to disperse the crowd, the police met with resistance from Neturei Karta members and detained ten.
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