The riots erupted before dawn Wednesday when an Arab resident of the mixed town drove his car into a Jewish neighborhood during the holy day of Yom Kippur, during which even secular Jews refrain from driving out of respect. Jewish rightist rioters alleged that the man "defiantly played loud music", and proceeded to assault him, sparking large scale clashes between Jews and Arabs in the area.
"We see a great danger in these attacks. They are similar to the pogroms that Jews were exposed to at the hands of the Nazi gangs in Germany," Barakeh told reporters.
When Acre police intervened, Barakeh said, "they fired rubber bullets and tear gas to prevent Arabs defending their homes". The clashes between Arabs and Rightists Jews resumed Thursday evening, after Yom Kippur ended, as hundreds of Jews and Arabs demonstrated and confronted police near the train station in eastern Acre and near the city's northern housing projects.