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(AFP) – September 2, 2009JERUSALEM — Axe-wielding ultra-Orthodox Jews went on a rampage in a Jerusalem neighbourhood, wounding a Palestinian taxi driver, destroying his vehicle and setting dumpsters on fire, police and witnesses said on Wednesday.
The violence took place overnight in Mea Sharim, a bastion of ultra-Orthodox Jews, known as Haredis.
Police "pulled out from the neighbourhood following violent riots in recent days," said spokesman Shmulik Ben Rubi.
Israeli media said several dozen young Haredis attacked a Palestinian driver and destroyed his vehicle with axes. Police said the man was lightly wounded.
"It was a lynching attempt," a witness who identified himself as a Haredi told radio, expressing outrage over the violence which he said he saw from his Mea Sharim apartment.
"The taxi driver could have been killed if he hadn't fled as an ambulance arrived."
Rubi said police opened an investigation even though the driver had not filed a claim so far.
He said police could not intervene in time as access roads to Mea Sharim were barricaded by Haredis following earlier rioting.
On Sunday night, eight police officers were injured during a Haredi riot in which hundreds of people took part.
Protests first erupted 10 weeks ago after a decision by secular Mayor Nir Barkat to open a car park on the Jewish sabbath, the Jew's holy day of rest that runs from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
The city council says opening the car park in the popular tourist and shopping district is essential for the city's economic development.
The ultra-Orthodox protestors consider the move as desecrating the sabbath and fear it will encourage more traffic and lead to the opening of Jewish stores on the day of rest.
Strict Jewish tradition forbids all form of work, use of money and use of energy during the sabbath.
Maariv newspaper quoted a senior police officer as saying he expected "that these demonstrations will continue for a long time, with the same level of violence that we have experienced recently."
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Labels: Subjugation, Supremacism
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