Anti-Arab Violence Erupts at Kahane Funeral March

A raucous funeral procession for militant Rabbi Meir Kahane turned violent today when hundreds of people broke away from the march to smash shop windows, beat Arabs and stone police.

In a shopping district near the central bus station in Jewish west Jerusalem, Kahane supporters moved from shop to shop, asking owners whether they employed Arabs before smashing windows.

A terrified Arab ran down the street, followed by several Kahane loyalists shouting, “Death to terrorists!” Police reported some Palestinians were hurt in scattered attacks along the procession’s route.

One Arab was beaten to the ground near the cemetery in Givat Shaul, and a passing Israeli and two soldiers tried to help him. When he appeared to revive, members of Kahane’s Kach movement tried to block an ambulance from arriving. Police reports said one policeman was injured in the melee.

Elsewhere along the procession route, hundreds stoned a television building, and a mounted policeman trying to disperse the rioters was hit by a stone and fell off his horse, Israel radio said.

Hundreds of police reinforcements had been deployed to prevent violence between Kahane’s followers and Arabs during the funeral procession by 18,000 people, but authorities did not interfere during the window-breaking rampage.

The main procession of men in yellow Kach T-shirts and ultra-Orthodox Jews in black coats moved through downtown Jerusalem. Organizers with megaphones led chants of “Death to the Arabs!” and “Death to Arafat!” the PLO leader. Vans carrying yellow Kach flags led the marchers.

During the earlier memorial service, one Kach activist vowed to avenge the slaying of Kahane, who was fatally shot after a speech at a Manhattan hotel on Monday night. Police believe an Egyptian-born maintenance worker acted alone in the shooting.