RAMALLAH, October 27 (JMCC) - Over a thousand
Israel police officers have deployed in the northern Israel Arab town of
Um al-Fahem in preparation for a demonstration by rightists. By mid-morning police had deployed tear gas to disperse tens of Palestinian youth protesting against the activists.
The activists, led by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben Gvir, are marching to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the murder of the radical Jewish Rabbi Meir Kahane and to call for the outlaw of the Islamic Movement in Israel.
Police had denied requests for the right-wing activists to hold the protest, citing security concerns. But an Israeli court overruled, saying the march could take place.
Kahane was an Israeli-American rabbi who founded the Jewish Defense League. He started a political party called Kach, which advocated the imposition of Jewish law in Israel and the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel.
The Israeli government banned Kach in 1988 for inciting racism.
Kahane was murdered in 1990 in New York by El Sayyid Nosair, an Eygptian-American terrorist convicted of involvement in the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.
A similar right-wing march took place in Umm al-Fahm in March 2009 and led to clashes between Palestinian Arab residents of the town and Israeli security personnel.