A 90-minute “battle” between Neturei Karta elements and members of Histadrut sports groups in this city today left a heritage of tension and an exchange of charges between Orthodox and labor circles.
The clash broke out after a demonstration by ultra-Orthodox elements, led by Rabbi Amram Blau, in front of a playground set up recently by the sports groups on the edge of the Mea Shearim quarter of the city, in which many Orthodox families live. The Neturei Karta demonstration was halted by police who arrested Rabbi Blau and two others of the 50-odd demonstrators.
After the police departed the members of the athletics groups reportedly took out concealed clubs and attacked the Neturei Karta demonstrators, who replied with stones. In the free-for-all which followed, a number of people were injured and windows were broken in some houses and in a synagogue. The police returned to the scene and broke up the fight.
The Orthodox group had tried unsuccessfully to get the athletic club to move. It had even offered to pay 4,000 pounds to finance the establishment of the sports group in another area, charging that it “demoralized” the youth of the quarter. The offer was turned down.
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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.
