Above photo from ActiveStills.org.
Demonstrators attacked with clubs after rocket siren sounded; one man rushed to hospital; Police make no arrests.
Several dozen right-wingers interrupted a leftist demonstration against the Israeli operation in Gaza, beating and threatening several demonstrators on Saturday evening in central Tel Aviv.
One man was rushed to Ichilov Hospital after he was beaten by the rightists. According to the police, no arrests were made.
The leftist demonstration started around 8 P.M., with several hundred demonstration and about 20 police officers in attendance. Opposite the demonstration, several dozen rightist activists also gathered.
Shortly after 9 P.M., rocket alerts were sounded in Tel Aviv, and the police officers and demonstrators ran for shelter, while the rightists chased and threatened them, eyewitnesses said.
According to Rotem Bin Nun, 38, who participated in the demonstration, the rightists attacked the demonstrators with clubs while the police officers were taking shelter at the nearby Habima Theater.
“A friend of mine tried to defend one of the other demonstrators and was beaten himself,” Bin Nun said. “He lost consciousness for a few seconds, passers-by called an ambulance and we went to Ichilov.”
“It was fearful. I’ve never experiences such violence in Tel Aviv in a leftist demonstration,” he added.
Police officers at the scene told Haaretz no one was arrested, that no wounded were reported and that the situation is “under control.” According to eyewitnesses and demonstrators, police did not do enough to stop the violence, and arrested no right-wingers who threatened leftists.
Israeli rapper Yoav Eliasi, known by the stage-name “The Shade,” was spotted among the right-wingers and later thanked his fellow activists for showing up, noting members of the Beitar Jerusalem F.C. fanclub, among others. “Together we’re a force against the real enemy among us, the radical left, and thanks to my guys who are apparently called the lions, and thanks to the IDF, all this is for you!” he wrote on his Facebook page.
