Eritrean man seriously burned in apartment blaze in Israel; police suspect arson
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Eritrean+seriously+burned+apartment+blaze+Israel+police+suspect/6920037/story.html\
By The Associated Press July 12, 2012 2:01 AM
JERUSALEM - Police say they suspect arson in a fire that broke out in a Jerusalem apartment housing African migrants, seriously burning an Eritrean man.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld says two other Eritreans, including a pregnant woman, suffered smoke inhalation in Thursday's blaze.
Rosenfeld says police are searching for suspects and that "it seems to be that it was an attack, carried out deliberately."
This is the second suspected case of arson against migrants' homes in Jerusalem in recent weeks. Rosenfeld says no one has been arrested in the first case.
Tensions in Israel over the unsanctioned arrival of tens of thousands of African migrants have turned violent in recent weeks.
An estimated 60,000 Africans have slipped into Israel over the past seven years, through the border with Egypt.
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Eritrean couple hurt as home torched in Jerusalem
(AFP) – 1 hour ago
JERUSALEM — An Eritrean man was badly burned and his heavily-pregnant wife suffered smoke inhalation early on Thursday after attackers tried to burn down their apartment in central Jerusalem, Israeli police said.
The incident, the second such arson attack on African migrants in Jerusalem within six weeks, took place in a old building near the city's Mahane Yehuda market, police said.
"Unknown attackers set light to a small apartment where an Eritrean couple were living. The man, who was badly burned, and his wife, who is seven months pregnant and suffered from smoke inhalation, were taken to hospital," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
"There is no doubt that this was an arson attempt," he said, indicating that a special police team was conducting an investigation into the blaze in the Nahlaot neighbourhood.
The front door leading into the couple's ground floor studio apartment was badly burned, and the inside was also blackened by fire, according to an AFP correspondent who visited the scene.
It was the second such arson attempt targeting Africans close to Mahane Yehuda market, and comes as Israel mounts a high-profile campaign to round up and deport illegal immigrants from Africa.
On June 4, four Africans were taken to hospital with burns and smoke inhalation after someone tried to burn down a building housing 18 African migrants, which is also close to Mahane Yehuda market.
On the walls of the building, the attackers wrote: "Get out of the neighbourhood"
Rising tensions over the growing number of illegal immigrants has turned violent in recent months.
There was a spate of arson attacks in south Tel Aviv in April, and a month later, an anti-immigrant protest in the same area turned ugly, with demonstrators smashing African-run shops and property, chanting "Blacks out!"
Israeli figures indicate there are some 60,000 Africans in the country illegally, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea. Most of them live in run-down neighbourhoods of south Tel Aviv.
On June 10, the immigration police began a mass roundup operation, which initially focused on South Sudanese nationals but which has been expanded to include those from the Ivory Coast.
Since then, hundreds of Africans have been detained and around 240 flown back to Juba, capital of South Sudan.
Received on Thu Jul 12 2012 - 10:42:37 EDT
