Friday, October 10, 2008

Akko Riots Blamed on Leniency


Hillel Fendel

MK Uri Ariel (Tekumah/National Union) and his party colleague MK Tzvi Hendel are paying a post-Yom Kippur visit to Akko, site of the Arab pogrom against Jewish property. Speaking from the northern coastal city on Friday morning, Ariel said, "First of all, we must know that it was Arab MK Abbas Zakour who basically instigated the riots. He was one of the first people on the scene, and he made the call for hundreds of Arabs to come to the scene, after which they started destroying cars and stores." MK Ariel added, "The Israel-Arab problem is a very deep-seated one, and though Public Security Minister Avi Dichter is here trying to bring quiet, his actions won't help the long-term issues, and can only exacerbate them. Many Arabs simply do not recognize Israeli sovereignty..."
MK Ariel: "Many Arabs simply do not recognize Israeli sovereignty."

Asked what he would like Dichter to do "today or this week," Ariel said, "It's not a question of this week. The criminals amongst the Arabs must first of all be dealt with very harshly according to the law. In the long-term, we cannot keep covering up this problem of the growing brazenness of the Arabs, and it must be faced head-on."

Ariel said the Jewish residents of Akko "are embittered at the feeble police response, as well as the inaction of the municipality. They are hoping for a change..."

Ariel was referring to the upcoming municipal elections, but Kadima-affiliated Mayor Shimon Lancry is expected to be re-elected, despite yesterday's Arab riots.

Ruby Luzon, a resident of Akko and member of the local branch of Tekumah, said, "The Arabs rioted for hours without the police doing anything. But when the Jews demonstrated, the police used shock guns and other riot-dispersal means, and some Jews were even injured as a result."

As the news of the riots became known on Thursday night, Ariel said, "For years, Israeli society - and thus the police and State Prosecution as well - is very forgiving of the undermining activity of the 'Israeli' Arabs. The results of ignoring their behavior erupted in Akko today."
"We're fooling ourselves, ignoring the participation of Israeli-Arabs in terrorist attacks, refusing to recognize that most of the property crimes in Israel are carried out by Arabs."

"We have been fooling ourselves all these years," Ariel said. "We are ignoring the participation of Arabs with Israeli citizenship in terrorist attacks, and we refuse to recognize that most of the property crimes in Israel are carried out by Arabs."

"We also don't want to know about the systematic Arab takeover of Jewish neighborhoods in Israeli cities," he said. "Significant centers of unrest exist, just like in Akko, in Lod, Ramle, Yaffo, Carmiel, Upper Nazareth, and Haifa as well. There, too, Arab riots and destruction of Jewish property are just a matter of time."

Ariel says left-wing groups are to blame as well "for years of spreading the lies that 'Israeli'-Arabs are victims of discrimination. The Arabs of Israel spit in the well from which they drink, and are a fifth column in Israel. No economic complaints on their part can justify the calls to 'Murder the Jews!' and the like."

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