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Yom Kippur is one of the holiest day in accordance with Jewish tradition. However, antagonisms seem to prevail over the festive mood.

JERUSALEM: Police remain on alert in the Israeli city of Acre as tensions rose after an Arab man was assaulted for driving during Yom Kippur.

"The situation is very tense in the city. Crowds have gathered in several neighbourhoods and police reinforcements have been deployed in order to avoid new clashes," a police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld, said.

Television reports said clashes between Jews and Arabs that first broke out overnight on Wednesday resumed the following day in a mostly Jewish neighbourhood of Acre.

Mr Rosenfeld said police used water cannons to disperse protesters and had arrested four Jews. Earlier he said eight Arab "troublemakers" had been arrested overnight. There were no reports of serious injuries.

The unrest erupted when an Arab motorist drove into a neighbourhood where Arabs and Jews live, playing his car stereo loudly as ceremonies marking Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, were under way, Mr Rosenfeld said.

Mr Jamal denied allegations by Jewish neighbours and police that he had driven through the neighbourhood blasting music from his car.

"It was a racist attack. Racism has been rising in the city in recent years, with the influx of radical Jewish groups," he said.

The outgoing Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, appealed for calm in a statement: "Peaceful co-existence between Jews and Arabs is essential."

But the ultra-national MP Arieh Eldad denounced what he called "Arab pogroms".
"One should not be surprised if Jews take up arms to defend themselves while the police do nothing to protect them," he said.

On Yom Kippur, observant Jews fast, pray and ask God to pardon sins.

Observant Jews may not drive and the religious ban is widely respected throughout Israel.

Culled from reports from AFP

Readings : http://www.shalomnyc.org/feasts/yom_kippur.htm