July 15, 2004 5:49 AM

Actually, we were just looking for an excuse to torch a taxi....

Peeping Tom sparks riot in West Bank

As if anyone needed a reason for more violence....

BEIT SAHOUR, West Bank - A "Peeping Tom" who photographed a woman in the changing room of a Bethlehem area clothes shop sparked a night of rioting between Palestinian Muslims and Christians, witnesses said today.

At the height of the hours-long riot, hundreds of Muslims and Christians fought each other with metal rods and stones overnight in the streets of the West Bank town of Beit Sahour, adjacent to Bethlehem, revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

Palestinian police tried to quell the fighting by firing volleys in the air with automatic rifles, but the fighting only died down when the Bethlehem district governor imposed a curfew on the predominantly Christian town....

The incident began on Tuesday evening when a Muslim man snuck a camera into a changing room in a Beit Sahour clothes shop as a woman was dressing and snapped several pictures of her, residents said.

The man, from a nearby Muslim town, raced to a taxi with the shopowner in pursuit, residents said. But he was forced to flee to a mosque when dozens of Beit Sahour residents arrived and began smashing the taxi, which they later torched.

By then, Christians and Muslims involved in the dispute had called in reinforcements, witnesses said.

The Muslims demanded police free the man, who was badly beaten during the melee, residents said. But the suspect was arrested and taken to a local jail.

Can't we all just get along? I suppose not....

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 15, 2004 5:49 AM.

So much for freedom of speech was the previous entry in this blog.

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