At Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, taking place on Saturday afternoon, suddenly about a dozen young people suddenly began to fall slowly and to the theater to the floor, to the shock and confusion of Israelis outside. buy or enjoy coffee.
“Did it scare you?” Flash mob organizer Mohamed Jabarin appealed to the onlookers, who went on to explain the mission – to draw attention to an increase in hunting within the Israeli Arab community and accuse the police did not deal with the violence.
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Young Israeli Arabs set up platform in Tel Aviv to protest against violence in their community
(Photo: Screenshot)
At least 24 Israeli Arab citizens were shot dead this year, mostly by unidentified attackers from their towns and villages. The shootings, mostly crime and gang, have become an important issue for the 21% minority ahead of the March 23 national election.
The biggest expression of the fear and anger felt by the community has come through tens of thousands of protests against violence in Umm al-Fahm and other Arab cities.
But the flash mobs are an attempt to raise awareness about the shootings in the heart of Israel’s Jewish cities.
Demonstrators are accusing the police of turning a blind eye to the violence, which they say is the result of poverty and years of under-investment in their small communities.
Police say they are investigating all shootings and are continuing their work to collect illegal weapons, arrest all criminals and bring them to justice.
“The only solution for the police to act … is to take to the streets and evacuate the Palestinian Arab people,” Enab Mhajne, 19, said at Umm al-Fahm ‘s protest on Friday.
Behind her protesters she hoisted Palestinian flags, a strange sight on the streets of Israel.
Most Arabs were Israeli Arabs who lived under Ottoman and then ruled the British colony before settling in Israel after the creation of the country in 1948.
Some Arab politicians have been working with right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to tackle the violence.
Netanyahu posters have started appearing in the urban neighborhoods of cities like Haifa with a slogan called the Arabic slogan “We are with you”.
Netanyahu, whom many Arabs accuse of discriminating against their community, has pledged 100 million pence ($ 30.24 million) to counter violence in Arab areas.
But Luna Hasan, 24, another of the flash mob organizers, said the Arabs should focus on joint action to deal with the shootings, rather than relying on one person -politics.
“Arabs are represented in every aspect of the economy, in almost every aspect of life in Israel … we deserve safety, and we deserve protection,” Hasan said.