Three arrested as police, ultra-Orthodox protesters clash in Jerusalem

Demonstrators from Toldot Aharon Hasidic sect were protesting opening of cellphone store in their neighborhood

Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox men clash with police during a protest against coronavirus restrictions in Jerusalem, February 9, 2021. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
Illustrative: Ultra-Orthodox men clash with police during a protest against coronavirus restrictions in Jerusalem, February 9, 2021. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

Police clashed with some 100 ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem on Sunday, arresting three people.

Demonstrators from the Toldot Aharon Hasidic sect were protesting the opening of a cellphone store in their neighborhood. The insular group has in recent years been waging a battle against internet usage — and especially web-connected phone ownership — in its communities.

Police said the three people were arrested for disrupting police and attacking officers.

Video posted online showed a police officer using a baton to keep a group of protestors who had surrounded him away.

There have been several protests over the opening of the store in recent weeks, due to its sale of regular mobile phones.

Many ultra-Orthodox people use so-called kosher phones — devices stripped of social media and most other apps — at the advice of rabbis.

 

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