6 arrested in clashes with ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem
By Jonathan Lis and Roni Singer
Six people were arrested last night as hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem threw stones and other objects at police during a protest against construction work on the Trans-Israel Highway.
Protesters fear damage could be caused to graves during the construction of a northern part of Highway 6.
Three police officers were injured during the clashes.
On Tuesday night, five officers were wounded in clashes. One of them was in moderate condition, and the rest sustained light injuries. Nine of the rioters were arrested.
Some of the protesters said they had caught police brutality toward them on tape.
Protesters demonstrated Tuesday in front of the Transportation Ministry's offices in Jerusalem, and later moved to the Mea She'arim neighborhood, where they burned trash cans and blocked traffic to a city square and nearby streets. Police arrested five of the rioters and reopened the roads.
But later, when the police tried to arrest a man suspected of setting fire to trash cans near a Satmar yeshiva, hundreds of ultra-Orthodox rioters began to throw rocks, bricks, metal rods and benches at the officers, in efforts to free the suspect. Three more suspects were arrested during the incident.
Similar protests against the extension of Route 6, the private toll road that runs north south through the center of the country, have been breaking out almost weekly in the same neighborhood in Jerusalem for some months. The controversial section is planned to run near Kibbutz Regavim, north of Hadera, which, according to ultra-Orthodox groups, contains dozens of burial caves, identified as those of Jews from second temple period.
On Monday night, 15 ultra-Orthodox protesters were arrested for rioting and causing damage to the home the highway's chief engineer in Ganei Tikva, south of Petah Tikva. Around 20 people attended the protest.
Around a week ago, leaflets were found stuck to the engineer's door, threatening to hurt him should the road be constructed along the planned route. Similar messages were also taped to cars on his street.
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