ultra-Orthodox Jews attack Druze man

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews attack Druze man in upper Galilee village

By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent

Dozens of ultra-Orthodox Jews from central Israel attacked a Druze man near the upper Galilee village of Beit Jan early on Thursday evening.

The man, Najib Kais, was evacuated to a hospital in Nahariya in light condition.

Mona, Kais' 14-year-old daughter, said her father was working with his wife and other daughter in their private vineyard located in Zabud, just north of Beit Jan, when a group of some 70 ultra-Orthodox Jews who had been hiking in the Mount Meron nature reserve arrived at the orchard and ordered the man to leave.

Mona said that when he told them the land belonged to him, they began to attack him with stones.

Following the attack, hundreds of Beit Jan residents made their way to the scene, where they clashed with the ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Witnesses reported that some of the Druze involved in the altercation cut the side-locks of several yeshiva students. Four ultra-Orthodox Jews were lightly injured and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Some of the ultra-Orthodox Jews ran for cover in a nearby thicket, while police evacuated others from the village.

Police deployed a large force on the scene to prevent potential riots.

As of mid-evening, the area of the attack and ensuing scuffle was calm.

Following the incident, Hadash-Ta'al Chairman Mohammed Barakeh and Mossawa, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel, asked Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra and Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi to investigate the incident.

Barakeh called the attack a "part of the continued chain of provocations of the extreme right against the Arab population."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/620102.html