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20 Orthodox Extremists Arrested in Jerusalem Riot; Stoned Police

Twenty more members of the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta sect were arrested today after a riot which developed when police attempted to choke off a parade down Jerusalem’s main streets in protest against the building of a swimming pool in which mixed bathing would be permitted.

When the demonstrators came up against the police barricades after marching from the Satmar Synagogue, they attempted to break through but were hurled back, then were pushed, fighting and screaming, toward the synagogue. As the police attempted to enter the synagogue after the demonstrators, stones were hurled at them, some smashing windows of police vans rushed to the scene.

Several of the Orthodox demonstrators opened the Holy Ark in an attempt to prevent further fighting. Others called the policemen “Nazis.” Eventually, 20 were dragged out and hauled off to jail in the waiting vans.