Wounded at an asylum seeker demonstration in Tel Aviv (Photo: Yotam Ronen)
The violent clashes and riots of asylum seekers that broke out on Saturday in the streets of south Tel Aviv, between the group of blues, opponents of the Eritrean regime, and the group of reds, who support it, brought to the surface the fierce internal battles taking place within the Eritrean community in Israel. The police chief stated that for the time being, control of the situation has been achieved, but the police are now afraid of retaliation and settling accounts following the events.
Due to the concern, at this stage many police forces are deployed at friction points and many corners throughout the south of the city in order to provide a quick and optimal response to any incident that may develop. In addition, the police announced that as part of the attempt to thwart further violent incidents and in order to maintain public safety, "the hammaras in the south Tel Aviv area were closed to prevent mutual attacks and endanger human life."
The police added that even at this time, "police investigators continue to identify additional rioters who attacked and endangered lives during the riots and will later be arrested and brought in for interrogation."
Closure of places of entertainment for migrant workers and asylum seekers in south Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Israel Police Spokesperson's Office)
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai at a briefing at the Sharett station, following a demonstration of Eritrean asylum seekers, Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson's Office)
Closure of migrant workers' entertainment venues in south Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Photo: official website, Israel Police Spokesperson's Office)
Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai addressed the riots in a statement he gave to the media, explaining that the organization is working to prevent the renewal of the riots. According to him, despite the calm, the police are still working on the ground: "We are still dealing with buses of reinforcers who came here," he said, "some of them seized assault weapons such as clubs, tear gas and lies. We check the status of those on the buses. At the same time, we have the detainees and the treatment of the wounded." The police commissioner added: "Now they are working against the hammaras and crowd concentrations."
In the statement, Shabtai also referred to the police's preparations for today's demonstrations: "Yesterday, preventive arrests were made of inciters who we knew were dominant among the opponents. We carried out preventive arrests of three suspects. And this morning we received warnings that the business was going to come early, we were prepared for the afternoon hours, and we were ahead of the stabilization of some of the forces."
However, he said, the police were surprised by the intensity of the violence in the clashes: "Unfortunately, the crowd that arrived reached a level of violence that we have not encountered until now – using rocks, iron bars, attacking the forces. The whole use of the means did not work on the people - not the stun grenades and not the activation of the gas. Forces found themselves in distress and were forced to use live ammunition. From the events of October, we do not remember such a situation. There was a deployment of 200 Special Patrol Unit officers, which is much more than any previous year. We didn't encounter this level of violence, but we did."
Closure of migrant workers' entertainment venues in south Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Photo: official website, Israel Police Spokesperson's Office)
Closure of migrant workers' entertainment venues in south Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson's Office)
Eritrean asylum seekers demonstration, Tel Aviv, September 2, 2023 (Photo: Flash 90, Omer Fichman)
More in Walla!
- US expresses support for Danny Dayan, Chairman of Yad Vashem: "It is critical to preserve the independence of this institution"
- The Ministry of Education threatened to withhold funds, and the Herzliya Gymnasium canceled the refuseniks' event
- Likud MKs blame the High Court of Justice for the "infiltrators" riots, forgetting that in 2018 it was Netanyahu who prevented their expulsion
- B-Cure Laser - Does It Help Knee Pain? The truth is revealed
The clashes erupted against the backdrop of a festival held by the Eritrean embassy on Yad Harutzim Street in south Tel Aviv. The demonstrators, opponents of the regime, protested against the conduct of the government in their country of origin, claiming that it still persecutes them through its representations around the world. More than 160 people were injured, including eight in serious condition and about 30 policemen who sustained minor injuries in the clashes.
Police sources claimed it was an intelligence failure: "We fell asleep on guard duty, ignored the intelligence accumulated in preparation for the outbreak," senior members of the organization said, in light of warning letters received by the police from a number of sources warning that holding the festival could spark a violent riot. Meanwhile, the Police Investigations Department announced that it had opened an investigation into several incidents that took place during today's protests, including police shooting at demonstrators and shooting in the air.
- news
- News in Israel
- Criminal & Legal News
Tags
- Asylum seekers
- Tel Aviv-Yafo
- Demonstrations
- Eritreans
- police