Several hundred people gathered in front of the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem Wednesday evening to demonstrate over the murders of three Israeli teens and one Arab teen.
The protesters chanted, ‘End the violence and racism,’ and “Don’t let extremists dictate dialogue in Israel.’
Arabs rioted in nearly every Jerusalem neighborhood in which they live on Wednesday, violently destroying Light Rail stops, hurling rocks at Israeli police officers along with ignited fireworks, Molotov cocktails and just about anything else they could get their hands on. They lit tires on fire and sent them whirling into the roads and alleyways, and piled heaps of garbage and trash in the streets, bashing windows of cars they identified as belonging to Jews.
Likewise, Jewish teens demonstrated in other areas, with some chanting “Death to Arabs.” One in downtown Jerusalem attempted to attack an Arab worker at a local restaurant; three others attacked a Bedouin also working in the capital. All were arrested. No injuries were reported in either incident.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu underlined earlier in the day that Israel is a “nation of laws and everyone must act according to the law.” He urged Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich to push police to work as quickly as possible to find those responsible for the murder of 17 year old Muhammad Hussein Abu Khdeir.