Riots in Jerusalem over Shabbat opening of Old City parking lot

At least 28 ultra-Orthodox Jews were arrested during riots over the Sabbath opening of a Jerusalem parking lot near the Old City. Seven people were reportedly wounded in the protests on Saturday and Sunday as demonstrators threw rotten fruit, rocks and soiled diapers at police, who reacted with water cannons. At least 1,000 counter-demonstrators who support Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat's decision to open the lot to Saturday visitors protested nearby. They held up placards reading: "Jerusalem is for everybody".

Violent protests spread to several of Jerusalem's fervently Orthodox neighborhoods, and an estimated 30,000 ultra-Orthodox protesters took to the streets. After the end of the Sabbath, they set fire to garbage bins.

On Thursday, the Jerusalem District Court agreed to a request by the local municipality to keep the city-run Safra parking garage closed on the Sabbath and instead open the nearby, privately owned Karta parking lot, which is in receivership. Both parking lots are near the Old City's Jaffa Gate, and fervently Orthodox Jews have objected to the opening of the lots on the Sabbath.

Thousands of fervently Orthodox Jerusalemites also turned out for a protest on Friday night despite the ruling, which some cast as a compromise because it allowed the city-owned lot to remain closed on Shabbat. On Sunday, security at Barkat's office and home was increased following death threats against the mayor. His office issued a statement vowing that Barkat would not change his decision to open the parking lot.