Twelve Orthodox Jews belonging to the Agudath Israel movement were arrested to-day and made to ride to the police station, although they protested that they would not ride on the Sabbath, following a big demonstration organised by the extreme orthodox section of the Jewish population on the Maccabee sports ground against the playing of a football match by two Jewish teams. Some of the demonstrators were clubbed by the police who were trying to keep order. The Jewish National Council (Vaad Leumi) endeavoured yesterday to persuade the teams to abandon the match, but had no success. Originally the match had been arranged between the Maccabee team and an Armenian team, but Rabbi Sonnenfeld, the head of the Agudist Community, persuaded the Armenian Patriarch to order his communicants not to play, and the Armenian team called off the match. The Maccabees insisted, however, on playing a match and made arrangements with another Jewish team to take the place of the Armenians.
The arrests took place after stones had been thrown by the Orthodox demonstrators, in the course of which a British police sergeant was wounded. Thousands of people looked on, including sympathisers with both sides, without interfering, however, on either side. About 300 gained admission to the field, from which the police rigidly kept out the Orthodox element, which had come to protest against the match. The objectors surrounded the sports ground, keeping up an incessant shouting, denouncing the match as a desecration of the Sabbath. After the match was over, the police dispersed the huge crowd.
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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.
