Hundred thousand of Israelis rallied nationwide on Saturday night against the far-right government for the 39th week, after Yom Kippur saw the country’s religious-secular divide bitterly exposed at a public prayer service in Tel Aviv. Demonstrations were held across approximately 100 locations throughout the country, organizers said. Protesters in Tel Aviv blocked off the Ayalon freeway by putting up a sukkah plastered with anti-government posters in honor of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which began Friday night. They were eventually forced out by police and two were arrested.
Channel 13 estimated that some 85,000 rallied in Tel Aviv’s Kaplan Street. At the center of the crowd, a large sign declared, “You won’t divide us!” in a reference to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government policy.
The Communist Party of Israel leading member and former MK, Dov Khenin, at the demonstration held in Jerusalem, Saturday night, September 30, 2023 (Footage: YouTube)
The protests came days after a settler religious organization attempted to hold a public Yom Kippur prayer service in the heart of Tel Aviv with an improvised gender divider after the courts had forbidden it to separate the sexes in a public location, sparking bitter confrontations between attendees and protesters, and unprecedented scenes of anger and accusations on the Jewish Day of Atonement.
In Jerusalem’s demonstration, attended by thousands, former Hadash MK and leading Communist Party of Israel activist, Dov Khenin said that, “In the past week, they’ve been employing the old Roman strategy on us: divide and rule. This time it’s secular versus religious. We won’t fall into this trap. Just as we didn’t fall into the trap of Ashkenazim versus Mizrahim or Jews versus Arabs. Yes, we are different, but that difference is not a problem. On the contrary, it’s a resource that we should use to reach broader audiences and expand our circles.”
In three anti-Netanyahu protests in Haifa, thousands demonstrated against the skyrocketing violence in the Arab community that has seen 190 people killed since the beginning of the year. Hundreds of protesters came to a protest in Sefer Square in Haifa, led by the student protest.
The students opened the demonstration with a moment of silence in memory of those murdered in Arab society following the severe massacre in Basmat Tabun last Wednesday. At the same hour, hundreds gathered against the far-right government’s disregard of the violence in Arab community. Various public figures, including Chairman of the Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary group MK Ayman Odeh, participated in the demonstration, which take place in Unesco square in Haifa’s German Colony.
Demonstrators lit memorial candles in honor of those who were killed in acts of violence, and waved signs that said “A good Arab is a dead citizen,” and “The organized crime is a result of political policy,” among others. Other signs exhibited drawings of a gun and the Palestinian flag with a message to the police: “Confiscate guns, not Palestinian flags.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=31219
