Even After the Police's 'Insane Violence,' Israeli anti-Iran War Protesters Remain Undeterred - Israel Political News
Thirteen protesters were arrested on Saturday at an anti-war demonstration in Habima Square – a sight activists in the city have not seen for many months.
Later on Saturday night, dozens of young people stood outside the north Tel Aviv Israel Police station, as Attorney Gaby Lasky, who represents detained protesters, went in and out of the station to update them on the situation of their friends held inside.
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It all began a few hours earlier, before the sun had set on the square. More than a thousand protesters arrived at the plaza for the largest demonstration held since Israel's war with Iran began, one month ago.
Hundreds of new faces joined the dozens who had consistently come to the square in recent weeks, including some identified with organizations working against the judicial overhaul led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. New blood in a blood-soaked reality.
Just minutes after hundreds of protesters began to gather in the plaza, the deputy chief of the local Tel Aviv police station, Chief Superintendent Avi Offer, ordered the organizers of the demonstration to disperse it. The reason, which would be repeated dozens of times over the next two hours: "For your own safety."
According to the police, the protesters were endangering themselves by their very presence in the square. Police said an assessment with Home Front Command also determined that the demonstration was a dangerous one, as officers announced repeatedly throughout the evening.
The organizers' instructions for protesters to take shelter if sirens warning of an incoming Iranian missile were sounded, and their explanations that a five-story parking lot – one of the largest protective bomb shelters in Tel Aviv – was located just underneath the square, did not help.
Soon, police officers, special forces and Border Police stormed the crowd. What began as pushing quickly turned into real violence: slamming people, including women, to the ground, and also pushing and shoving journalists.
For nearly two hours, in a demonstration originally planned to last about an hour, the police clashed with the protesters. The protesters refused to give up their right to voice a critical stance, especially during a war. "It's like in the West Bank," one protester shouted at the police. Another told a Border Police officer: "Go guard the border instead of being here."
Hours later, dozens of protesters stood outside the police station in the city, cheering on their friends who were slowly being released. The mood, somewhat surprisingly, was uplifted. The police's conduct and the violence directed at the protesters seemed to breathe new life into the protest, whether it was against the war or against the Israeli government.
One of the first to be released from the station was Itamar Greenberg, who, along with his friends, had consistently protested in the square almost since the first day of the war. Even though he had already been arrested at the group's first demonstration about three weeks prior and also underwent a strip search, he testified that Saturday's events were out of the ordinary. "The violence was insane and extraordinary," he said. "The police beat me and choked me inside the patrol car."
Kalanit Sharon, from the Pink Front, a protest organization consisting of anti-government artists and performers wearing pink, also has considerable experience with protests. "It surprised me," she said about the police's conduct. "The whole idea of dispersing everyone was very violent from the get-go. There was an escalation of pushing, throwing, and then arresting."
Sharon said she felt someone pulling her by the bag on her back, and after being slammed to the ground, four police officers lifted and arrested her. "We were above a huge shelter, so I didn't see any reason to act in such a way. It's really the most protected place, more than my home," she added.
Greenberg and Sharon both said they believe the police's actions on Saturday will signal a shift in the protest movement's motivation. "This is a pivotal event. I don't know what its impact will be, but we haven't had anything like this in months," Greenberg said.
Sharon also said she hoped the protests would grow. "When there's no trust in those leading this war, you can't remain silent," she said. "I'm not a soldier, but I don't trust those who are leading me down this path. We protesters, don't agree about everything, but we're fighting for common causes, and that's exciting. The feeling is that they're trying to silence any criticism. The police were out of control."
After most of the protesters were released, a young man, wearing a torn white shirt, emerged from the station doors. According to him, when he was arrested, he was outside the square, on one of the nearby streets. "They threw my friend to the ground, and then jumped on me. It was wild and illogical violence," he described. "It just makes you want to participate more when you see all the amazing people who are there."
Police said in response that the protest was held without coordination with them and that the protesters gathered in violation of Home Front Command directives and emergency regulations.
Police also said that a Home Front Command officer clarified that "there is a real risk to human life." According to the police, "a police officer declared the dispersal of the demonstration, and disturbers of the peace who did not obey the officers' orders created confrontations with the officers, during which 13 disturbers of the peace were arrested."