Injuries, arrests as Orthodox clash with Israel police

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews clashed with police in a conservative neighbourhood of Jerusalem on Wednesday as tax officials tried to carry out inspections, a police spokesman told AFP. Micky Rosenfeld said six police officers were lightly injured as some 300 protestors threw projectiles at them, and six demonstrators were arrested for taking part in the disturbances. Rosenfeld said tax authority representatives entered the Mea Shearim neighbourhood on Wednesday morning to carry out "examinations, check-ups and closures" of several businesses. "Disturbances developed involving representatives of the community. Stones and other objects were thrown at police officers," he said. Rosenfeld said clashes continued on Wednesday afternoon, hours after they started, and that additional police units had been deployed to reinforce officers on the scene. Israeli media reported that the clashes started when tax inspectors tried to close down an illegal slaughterhouse in the neighbourhood. Much of Israel's ultra-Orthodox community rejects the authority of the Jewish state, adhering instead to strict interpretations of Jewish scripture issued by their religious leaders.