An Arab brutally murdered a Jew in Jerusalem on Sunday night, leading to violent protests by dozens of hareidi-religious Jews against the police plans to perform an autopsy on the body. A taxi driver was seen - and filmed - intentionally running down three protestors, sending them flying but miraculously injuring them only lightly.
The violence did not end there. Video footage supplied by the hareidi site "24 Hours" and screened on Channel 2 shows a stun grenade thrown at the hareidim from a police vehicle, and the hareidim responding with firecrackers of their own.
The story began on Sunday morning with an argument between an Arab and a Jewish man and which deteriorated Sunday night into violence: The Arab from a Palestinian Authority-controlled town brutally and repeatedly stabbed the Jew, causing his death. The attacker, 23, was caught afterwards in northern Jerusalem.
The murder occurred in a hostel in the Geulah quarter of Jerusalem. Magen David Adom medics who arrived found many stab wounds in the victim’s back, chest, stomach, neck and hands, and they dedicated a half-hour to futile resuscitation efforts.
When it was learned that the police intended to perform an autopsy on the body, which is prohibited by Jewish Law, dozens of hareidi men protested in anger, throwing stones at police and even setting a police car on fire. The hareidim were targeted by the taxi driver and police stun grenades, as well as by a reported additional attempt tp run them down.
The night before, an Arab driver was arrested for running over a hareidi protestor at a different demonstration, but the driver's action apparently was not intentional.
Though Jerusalem is not considered a violent city, several Arab attacks against Jews have been recorded in recent weeks. A month ago, two Arabs attacked a man in the Old City, wounding him lightly; the attackers were caught. Two months ago, a young Arab assaulted a woman in her 20’s in central Jerusalem, but after a long struggle, she was able to rebuff him, losing only her handbag. In addition, a young man on his way to the Western Wall on a Friday afternoon was beaten by two Arabs near the American consulate in an Arab-populated area; the attackers have not yet been caught.