Kristallnacht in Akko, 2008

Kristallnacht 2008 -- Akko, Israel

A first-hand account from a resident of Akko.

"A lot of young Arab children are calling towards me-'Itbach elyahud' which means kill the Jews." -- Efrat S.

Akko is in the Western Galilee, our Partnership with Israel (P2K) region. The writer is a gentle soul we know through our work with P2K. We trust her account of the circumstances implicitly.

This is horrible. Not in our lifetime?

Please reach out to our friends and colleagues in the Western Galilee at this crucial time. Messages to the author can be forwarded to her via our e-mail address: jcrc@dmjfed.org
-- M.Finkelstein, JCRC Des Moines.
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Dear Friends [from Efrat in Akko],

I decided to translate a letter that I sent to my friends in Israel at the end of Yom Kippur because I want you to know what really happened in Akko-Yom Kippur-2008. Unfortunately the media do not tell the whole truth and I think that it is important for you to know:

"I am writing to you this letter after returning from a shocking walk in the streets of Akko at the end of Yom Kippur or shell we call it "The crystal night" in Akko:

Dozens of Jewish cars are broken and glass is all over, all the Jewish stores in the main street of Akko are glass broken and things were stolen from the inside of them- not even one policeman is around!! A lot of young Arab children are calling towards me-" Itbach elyahud" which means kill the Jews. Not even one Arabic store is damaged and the glass is all over. [empahsis in the original letter - editor]

This is the result of a very organized active of the Islamic movement in Akko and this is how it began:

At Yom Kippur night, after Kol Nidrey, we always use to go out to the empty roads and meet with friends. The street near my home was very crowded and I can say that all the kids were outside, the elder people were outside and it seems like every other Yom Kippur.

Around 11 pm, we heard a lot of screaming and we saw a car driving very fast in between the people and one child from Tali's school got hurt. We were sure that
we have a terror act like in Jerusalem and as there was no policeman around we have to stop the driver. When the driver came to a parking lot he finally stopped and people tried to catch him but he ran upstairs to an Arabic family who leaved near by.
Suddenly came 8 Arabic policeman who tried to calm down the people but another Arabic car came in driving like a crazy and it was a miracle that no one got hurt.
Young Jewish kids who were very angry that the Arabs did not respect Yom Kippur and drove with their car to the Jewish neighborhood start throwing stones and did not behave very nice.- The policemen just stood there and did nothing!

Meanwhile the Imams of the mosques (who get salaries from the Israeli government to be the Arabs rabbis) activate there mosques speakers ,which were put there
on behalf of the Israeli government for prays, to call their people to come and hurt the Jews.

About 200 young Arabs who hid their faces, with axes and sticks in hands start gathering near the Jewish neighborhood. The Jewish people heard the Imams calling for Jihad for two hours, they saw the Arabs coming, they called the police .but as in the police station there were only Arabs policemen there was no respond!
Two hours and the police did nothing- can you explain a thing like that?

My friend who leaves near the Arabs gathering place, saw how they destroyed her two cars and then the came to her house shouting: kill the Jews, kill the Jews.

She begged for the police to come but- no respond! The Arab policemen who were in charge at that night did not respond. She called other police stations in the near by city but- no respond! Not even one policeman wanted to take responsibility to the situation because they know that at the end , if you do something against the Israeli Arabs you will be guilty.

My friend was in life danger and at last she entered with all her family to her home shelter and closed the door, praying that they will not be killed.
Around 1AM those Arabs started the Pogrom- they did not miss one Jewish car and destroyed all of them- the Arab policemen were behind them in the car doing nothing!
Around 4 AM they left our neighborhood.

All of this happens in Israel today , not in the Independence war!

My mother who grew up in Haifa told me similar stories form her experience in Haifa at the 40th and it seems that nothing has changed- The Arabs continue their cruel behavior which does not seems as believing in coexistence!(by the way, they also destroyed the mechanism of my coexistence clock too)

We are in war in Akko and this is an example of what we can expect to be in all Israel.

Can you believe that the Islamic movement had the guts to arrange such an activity in our Yom Kippur?

My great grandfather was the Gabai of the Jewish Synagogue in Nirenberg and he was hurt in the crystal night- I can not believe that I went through a similar experience today in Israel. Israel was established to be a safe place for the Jews- Is it still a safe place for us? We want a democratic country; do the Arabs understand what Democracy is?

And now some facts: We have a wonderful mayor (Shimon Lankry) who developed Akko in an amazing way and in the coming election he was supposed to win and get most of the Arabs votes. The Islamic movement was in trouble and in order to change the situation they decided to use the weapon of hate!

I think that sheikhh Zakur, the leader of the local Islamic movement , who is a member of the Israeli Knesset should be in jail!

I think that we should find the leaders of those who activate the Pogrom and put them in jail ! I think that it is time for all the Jews to be together and understand that we only have each other. The Islamic power is against us in Israel and around the world"

Efrat

Jews and Arabs rioted in the mixed Jewish-Arab Israeli city of Akko over Yom Kippur. 10/10/2008 www.jta.org

The riots started Wednesday night when an Arab man drove through the Jewish sector of the city and was confronted by Jewish youths who said he was deliberately desecrating the holiday by driving, smoking and playing loud music. The ensuing riots between Jewish and Arab youths resulted in extensive damage to property throughout the town in northern Israel.

Acre clashes briefly renewed (Friday) as Jews enter eastern quarter 1010/08


Islamic Jihad, PRC call on all Palestinians to take to streets in solidarity with Akko Arabs
Ali Waked ynetnews.com

The Islamic Jihad movement called on Friday for Palestinians to take to the streets in solidarity with the Arabs of Akko and Arabs in Israel, in general, "due to the racist aggression and brutality of the occupation and the bullying of the settlers."

"The extreme Jewish attacks and the crimes of the settlers during recent days are a manifestation of the brutality of the occupation and its racism, in Akko and in other Palestinian villages in occupied Palestine," said the group's spokesman Walid Hilam.

He called on Akko's Arab residents to continue to fight and remain unified in the fact of aggressive behavior and to hold on to their lands in the face of an alleged Zionist plot to relocate them, as occurred in 1948.

"What is happening is a predecessor to a third intifada, which the Palestinians living within Palestine that has been occupied since 1948 will lead, because of the consistent aggression against them, their homes and their lands and the policy that keeps them oppressed," he said.

Abu Abir, the spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), also referred to the riots in Akko, saying that "the attacks on Palestinians in Akko demonstrate the distress of the Zionists and demonstrate that the next battle will be across all areas of Palestine."

"This struggle shows that Palestine that was conquered in 1948 was never separate from the Palestine of 1967. We are all one people, we are all against the occupation, and we are all fighting to free Palestine. All of Palestine," he added.