Image by Wikimedia Commons

Operation of the Jerusalem Light Rail has not gone smoothly since it finally got up and running late this summer. Earlier this month, some drivers held a strike, and others quit their jobs over pay issues. An elderly man was badly injured when struck by a train car. Windows have been broken by stones thrown at trains as they went through East Jerusalem neighborhoods.

What next? Dozens of Arab and Jewish girls were involved in a big brawl on Jerusalem’s Light Rail on Monday. Ynet reports that the use of tear gas by one of the Jewish girls involved prompted the evacuation of the train.

Israel National News reported that the incident took place on Sunday, not Monday, and that two Jewish girls were arrested in relation to the altercation and held in jail for two nights before being released to their homes under house arrest.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

CityPass, the company that operates the city’s new light rail system, issued the following response after the incident: “We will not be accepting any act of violence. We call on all residents to show tolerance.”

The Shmooze agrees with the assessment by CityPass that acts of violence are not acceptable, of course, but also wonders why the girl was carrying a personal canister of tear gas — on the light rail or anywhere else.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount