A brawl broke out in the north-central Israeli town of Harish Wednesday night between an Arab crime family that lives in the town and several dozen Jews from the religious seed group that comprises a majority of the community.
The Karaja clan was brought to Harish by Israel's Ministry of Public Security in 1998, after they were evacuated from Ramleh, where they had gotten into a murderous war with another crime gang. No other town - Jewish or Arab - would have them.
The latest incident began after one of the Karaja family's children picked on a Jewish boy for the second straight day. The boy's father, Rami E., shooed the Arab boy away and warned him severely not to dare touch his boy again. In retaliation, two of the Karajas burst into Rami E.'s garden and beat him over the head with pots and pans they found there.
Dozens of men from the religious community began pouring out of their apartments and into the area where the Karaja gang usually sit - an outdoor public space between two buildings which they have expropriated for themselves, walled and paved illegally.
At this point one of the Karajas burst out of the building with a baseball bat and began beating the Jews over the head. Four Jews were injured. Other Karajas threw ATV helmets and rocks at the Jews. The Jews, led by their Rabbi Boaz Izik, fought back and managed to hurt some of the Karajas. Police eventually showed up in large forces and a tense calm was restored.
Harish was intended to become a Jewish town with tens of thousands of residents but ever since the Karajas settled there, plans to attract developers have failed.
(Photos: Gil Ronen)