Jerusalem - While acutely aware of the diplomatic manoeuverings in Washington and at the UN General Assembly in New York, most Israeli eyes are currently focused on the country's largest Arab town, Umm al-Fahm, writes David Horovitz. There paramilitary policemen clashed fiercely for a second day yesterday with locals infuriated by land seizures.
One of the politicians representing Israel's million-strong Arab minority, Knesset member Ahmed Sa'ad, claimed that the Netanyahu government has "declared war not only on Umm alFham, but on the entire Israeli Arab population". The dispute erupted over the Israeli army's expropriation of local olive grove for use as a firing range. On Sunday, Israeli police dismantled a tent erected by Arab locals in the grove, locals began protesting, and the confrontation quickly turned violent.
The violence was continuing as night fell yesterday, with dozens of locals arrested, and dozens more injured."