To enter premises forcibly or illegally

Israeli police raid on Druse town turns into riot
By Isabel Kershner Published: October 30, 2007

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JERUSALEM: A Galilee village turned into a battleground Tuesday as the Israeli police clashed with rioters from the Druse community and fired live ammunition, police officials and community leaders said.

The violence in Pekiin in northern Israel left at least 16 police officers and a similar number of medics and residents wounded. One Druse resident was in serious condition after being shot in the stomach, emergency service officials said. One policeman was hospitalized with a serious head wound, a police spokesman said.

The episode was unusual because it involved the Druse, a minority of 130,000 people who make up less than 2 percent of Israel's total population of just over seven million. The Druse practice a secret religion and are known for their loyalty to the state in which they reside. Israeli Druse are enlisted for compulsory military service and many join the police force.

The clashes erupted when more than 100 police officers entered the village at 4 a.m. to arrest five men they suspected of having vandalized a cellphone antenna in the neighboring community of New Pekiin, the police spokesman said. The villagers contend that radiation from the antenna causes cancer.

"The police came under a barrage of rocks, boulders and metal bars thrown by masked youths," said the police spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld. "Our officers were in a life-threatening situation and it was necessary for one to open fire with live ammunition to get out of the situation." He added that the police arrested six of the rioters.
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