A Fascist electric scooter rider hit two Hadash demonstrators who took part in the demonstration “55 years of occupation is enough” in the Habima plaza in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. The two were evacuated to Ichilov Hospital for medical treatment.
Thousands of protesters gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday to voice their opposition to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian and Arab territories. The crowd marched through the streets of Tel Aviv and gathered at the central Habima Square, under the initiative of Hadash (The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), the Communist Party of Israel (CPI), human rights and peace organizations. The two demonstrators were injured by the electric scooter and evacuated to Ichilov Hospital and one of them was treated in a trauma room. The offending rider was detained by police.
Joint List chair, MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash), commented on the incident and said: “This is the result of the dangerous incitement against Palestinian flags: two demonstrators were attacked in a demonstration in Tel Aviv against the occupation. We reached Ichilov to strengthen them.” MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash – Joint List), added: “Two demonstrators were attacked in a demonstration against the occupation. This is caused by the systematic incitement against the Palestinians and the left. A complete cure for the attacks and reinforcements for the demonstrators.”
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash – Joint List) also arrived at the Ichilov Medical Center and tweeted: “This shocking attack is a direct result of the savage incitement against anyone who opposes occupation and apartheid, and of racist laws like the Flag Act. We will not give up and we will continue to fight the occupation.” The Combatants for Peace organization said: “Hate crimes have hit the streets of Tel Aviv. A driver ran over and wounded two happy protesters against the violence and repression and occupation. The incitement against left-wing and Palestinian activists translates into violent actions. We call on the police to prosecute immediately with the threat.”
In a joint communiqué released by the bodies participating in the demonstration the organizers wrote, “Already for 55 years now, Israel has been holding millions of people under military rule, enforcing two disparate systems of law for in the same territory, denying and violating human and civil rights. There is ongoing repression: more and more victimization, more demolitions expulsions, expropriation, administrative detentions, detentions of minors, land grabs, daily settler violence, and much more repression of all kinds. We all see how the occupation is creating facts on the ground every day, its settlements expanding and growing at the expense of the Palestinians – and ever more violent. Therefore – we must not remain silent!”
Among the signatories of the above declaration: Hadash, CPI, Young Communist League of Israel, Peace Now, Rabbis for Human Rights, Democratic Women Movement of Israel – TANDI, Breaking the Silence, Standing Together, Sikkuy, Yesh Gvul, Mesarvot, Machsom-Watch, Parents Circle – Families Forum, Gush Shalom, Zazim and Mothers against Violence.
According to Hadash, “We will join with all our fellow peace and human rights organizations in the struggle for an end to the occupation; for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state; for democracy and equality to both peoples; for peace and social justice.”
“In last weeks the teetering ‘government of change’ hasn’t managed to get a majority in the Knesset for extending the ‘Judea and Samaria regulations.’ The regulations are what grant Jewish settlers in the West Bank civil rights, while the Palestinians live under an oppressive military government. But there is something that the government is capable of doing: rapidly escalating the undeclared war in Syria, and demolishing the international airport in Damascus. One might say that this is real change. No previous government has ever done such a thing,” Hadash said.
