[Thread:] Throughout his career Netanyahu has maintained power by inciting Jewish Israelis against Palestinians in Israel and the OPTs, which has resulted in countless acts of racist violence by his supporters. Who’ve been the second biggest target of his incitement? The left.
It’s no surprise then that since the current wave of mass anti-government demonstrations began in June, protestors (who Bibi called “anarchists” & “aliens”) have sporadically been targeted with violence by pro-Bibi groups and individuals, especially Beitar ultras “La Familia”.
Earlier this week Netanyahu extended the lockdown regulations to include a ban on protesting further than 1km from home. While stifling the regular demonstrations at Balfour and other epicentres, protestors responded by demonstrating at every street corner across the country.
But the proliferation in protest locations has been accompanied by a huge spike in violence against demonstrators. The following comes from Haaretz’s coverage of tonight’s protests:
“In Tel Aviv, two demonstrators who were attacked were evacuated to the hospital, and in Ramat Gan, glass bottles were thrown from a balcony at protesters. A demonstrator was beaten in Jerusalem and another demonstrator was knocked over.”
“In Holon, a glass bottle was thrown at protesters, and in Haifa, firecrackers were thrown at protesters [...] Another protester was reportedly attacked and sent to the hospital in Kiryat HaYovel in Jerusalem.”
“In Pardes Hannah a protester was taken to the hospital with a broken hand after he was reportedly attacked by 15 people. [...] The protester added, ‘They chased me, knocked me to the ground and lynched me. They kicked me in the ribs and in the face. I ran away from them.’”
Elsewhere in TLV, this woman was punched in the face while blowing a horn:
And a reminder that two days ago, someone drove their car into a crowd of protestors in Tel Aviv:
This violence against protestors is almost certain to continue. Why? Because violence is the natural and necessary outcome of Netanyahu’s political strategy. Violence against Arabs has become routine; now we’re witnessing the normalisation of violence against “the left”.
(Police violence against protestors also continues unabated but this has been happening throughout these protests)
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