JERUSALEM - Israel has arrested 56 members of La Familia, a group of far-right football fans of the Beitar Jerusalem team over "violence and weapon smuggling", the police said on Tuesday. The ultra-nationalist Jewish members of La Familia, believed to number several hundred, are known for their racist, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments. The arrested supporters were accused of "taking part in serious acts of violence, weapon smuggling and entering stadiums with forbidden pyrotechnical devices", the police said, adding they were detained after they received information from an informant in the far-right group. Around 400 policemen and border guards took part in the arrests, which could continue in the coming days, the police added. In 2013, some Beitar supporters were angered by the signing of two Muslim players from Chechnya, forcing the team to hire bodyguards to protect them.

Source: Bangkok Post July 26, 2016 11:48 UTC