Muslim pogroms continue in Israeli cities: Jews counterstrike
Muslim rioters continued their rampage in cities throughout Israel on Wednesday night, attacking Jews and Jewish property, and the continued pogroms have led to similar acts by Jewish hooligans.
Police during the riots in Lod. (Eitan Elhadaz/TPS)
In Haifa, Lod, Acco, Tiberius and Arab towns across Israel, Muslim rioters threw rocks at Israeli motorists, set fire to cars and vandalized property, attacked Jewish passerby, wounding dozens of Jews, including several in serious condition.
Responding to the pogroms, Jewish hooligans marched through cities in which the riots took place and clashed with Arabs.
In Lod, despite the government’s announcement of a state of emergency and a curfew, and despite the streaming of further forces, the police were unable to gain control of the city and the Muslim rioting continued. A pregnant Jewish woman was seriously wounded by rocks thrown at her.
Two Arab suspects, residents of Lod in their 20s, were arrested for carrying out a number of shooting attacks on police officers during disturbances that took place Tuesday night in the city.
The police arrested 36 Arabs during the violent riots that took place in Jisr a-Zarqa, Hadera and Wadi Ara. The Arabs were arrested after throwing stones, launching fireworks, burning trash cans and tires and attacking police officers.
In Umm al-Fahm, shots were fired at police officers, wounding one of them moderately.
A 65-year-old woman was attacked by Arabs in Acco who tried to lynch her and the taxi driver who was driving her. Eyewitnesses at the scene said police fled the scene.
Also in Acco, Muslim terrorists threw stones and attacked Jews with sticks. As a result of the attacks, a Jew was wounded and is in severe condition.
The Arab rioters in the city also vandalized Jewish property and set fire to a police car. Infrastructure at a train station was damaged and the train service was shut down in the city.
In Bat Yam, Jewish hooligans vandalized Arab property and seriously injured one Arab in a lynching scene.
The police are facing heavy criticism for their apparent failure to contend with the riots, and multiple eyewitness accounts say that the police did not respond to calls of distress, refused to fend off the rioters, and fled the scene at times, leaving the civilians to fight for their lives.
The police have so far arrested 374 rioters across the country, during which 36 policemen were lightly injured.
Multiple Jewish leaders and politicians condemned the acts of hooliganism commented by Jews.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Wednesday night that “what is happening in Israel’s cities over the past few days is unacceptable. We have seen Arab rioters set fire to synagogues and vehicles and attack police officers. They are attacking peaceful and innocent citizens. This is something that we cannot accept; it is anarchy. Nothing justifies this and I will tell you that nothing justifies the lynching of Jews by Arabs and nothing justifies the lynching of Arabs by Jews”.
He said he intends to deploy military forces according to the existing law and will introduce an additional law if necessary.
“To the citizens of Israel, I say that I do not care if your blood is boiling. You cannot take the law into your own hands. You cannot grab an Arab citizen and try to lynch him – just as we cannot watch Arab citizens do this to Jewish citizens. This is something that I am certain is shared by most citizens of Israel,” he said.
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef condemned the Jews’ lynching mobs and said that “innocent Israeli citizens are being attacked by terrorist organizations, the blood is indeed hot and our hearts are outraged; the scenes are difficult to watch. However, we must not be dragged into provocations and to hurting people or harming property.”
“According to the Torah, there is no permission to take the law into one’s hands and act violently. The work of restoring order must be left to the police. We must be a light unto the nations, and not, God forbid, the opposite,” he said.
The vast majority of the Arabs’ leadership has remained silent.
What a terrible, terrible situation.
I participated in the UIA Zoom event with various speakers in Israel last night (hosted by Yair Miller and Jasmine Malal). As frightening and distressing as description of the rockets coming in was, the notion of street fighting and home invasions between Israeli citizens has urgent and powerful effect, creating a sense of inner mayhem. One can only wonder if Arab-Israelis have been incited by Hamas insurgents … probably. But still, no excuse, as each of us is responsible for our own decisions and actions.