Jews, Arabs clash in rioting
June 3, 2001

The Hassan Bek Mosque became the focus of Arab-Jewish friction following Friday night's suicide bombing at the Dolphin Disco some two hundred yards away. Hundreds of Jewish protesters gathered around the mosque and in the afternoon began pelting the structure with stones and attacking nearby vehicles. The outrage against the most visible symbol of Islam in the area was compounded by rumors that the suicide bomber had prayed at the mosque before carrying out his deadly attack.

Israeli police, including special forces, tried in vain to prevent the throwing of objects and barely managed to turn back the Jewish mob's attempts to penetrate the mosque compound. Some thirty Arabs inside the mosque periodically emerged from within the mosque to hurl back stones and objects at the crowd. At the peak of the rioting in the late afternoon, the rioters set fire to vehicles and tires, creating the false impression from certain angles that the mosque itself was burning. By late afternoon, the Arabs trapped inside the mosque were hustled into a police vehicle and evacuated from the scene.

Security forces were restrained in their response to the rioting, refraining from dispersing tear gas or using a water cannon on the crowd. Police efforts to arrest stone-throwers were foiled when members of the crowd repeatedly intervened to set free those who had been captured. For much of the time, the police did not appear to be in control of the situation, although some speculated that this was a calculated strategy to enable the enraged mob to vent its anger in an open area rather than migrating south to Jaffa, where the heavily Arab population was called upon by loudspeakers to take to the streets to defend the besieged mosque.

Police officials defended their actions against criticism that the security forces responded with too little force, too late. A dousing of water may have been a welcome relief to the crowd on the scorching afternoon, they said, and tear gas may have caused panic and affected guests in nearby hotels.

Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit, speaking on television from Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, where many of the attack victims were hospitalized, criticized the rioters for "taking up precious time of security forces, who should be trying to prevent terror attacks." Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau called on the Jewish population to exercise restraint.

Some sixty people were lightly hurt in the clashes, including policemen and journalists. There were some twenty arrests. Minor damage was caused to the mosque's facing and many of its windows were broken.

The Arab-owned Abulafia bakery along Tel Aviv's seaside promenade also suffered minor damage. There were also violent disturbances by Arabs in Jaffa, and by Jews in Bat Yam and in Jerusalem.