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Friday April 25, 1997

Anti-traffic protests resumed

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Ultra-religious demonstrators have resumed large-scale protests aimed at closing Jerusalem's Bar Ilan Street
The weekend protests came in the wake of a High Court ruling last week to keep the street open on the Sabbath and other Jewish h

The court decision came after Levy rejected earlier compromise proposals, including one that called for the street to be closed during prayer times, and another road, currently closed, to be opened to traffic.

Ultra-religious activists had suspended their demonstrations while they awaited the court's ruling.

Last summer, Bar Ilan Street was the site of repeated violent clashes between ultra-religious demonstrators and police. At the time, secular groups held protests of their own, often calling on their followers to drive along the street on the Sabbath.

The street has become the flashpoint for an ongoing debate between secular Israelis, who want to be free of religious constraints when it comes to setting public policy, and ultra-religious, who view the presence of Sabbath traffic on the street as a violation of Jewish law.

In Saturday's protests, which police said were less intense than expected, thousands of ultra-religious demonstrators clashed with large numbers of police, who pushed the protesters back to prevent them from blocking the street.

Some 20 demonstrators were detained, and about 10 police officers were injured in scuffles.

Jerusalem police chief Yair Yitzhaki said the police had achieved their goal of ensuring that the road remained open to traffic.

The police had stationed water cannons near the site of the demonstrations, but they did not use them.

The head of the secularist Meretz faction, Arnan Yekutieli, said that in light of Saturday's demonstrations, secular activists planned to resume their protests as well.

Yekutieli charged that the ultra-relilgious protests had proved that the religious community did not intend to honor the High Court ruling.

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