Municipal authorities are trying to cont tempers fallowing new outbursts of violence between Orthodox and secular Jews in the northern suburb of Sanhedria and a running bottle between ultra-religious youths and police in the Meah Shearim quarter. Arrests were made.
The religious secular clashes in Sanhedria, heavily populated by Orthodox Jews, have become almost a weekly occurrence as secular Jews from the outlying neighborhood of Ramot encounter a barrage of stones when they drive their cars on the Sabbath along the new rood that passes through Sanhedria. The matter was the subject of several agenda nation introduced in the Knesset last week by religious and secular factions.
The latest trouble erupted last Friday night when mosses of Orthodox Jews from Meah Shearim and other religious enclaves as well as Sanhedria residents hurled stones at cars driving after sundown. This time, the Ramot Residents Council organized a party of some 250 men in 40 cars to break the road-block. The religious demonstrators fled, but not before police arrested a half dozen rock throwers.
The Orthodox claim that traffic on the road from Ramot disturbs their Sabbath-peace. The Ramot residents demand the right to use the road, a main traffic artery to and from Jerusalem. The fighting in Meah Shearim began after Orthodox resident blocked the main thoroughfare to protest the events in Sanhedria. Police moved in to clear the road for buses and other traffic and were reportedly assaulted by Orthodox youths. Three policemen were injured and 10 youths were arrested.
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