Echoing events witnessed across Europe, a large-scale migrant riot was reported in Israel. At least 140 people were injured, including dozens of policemen, when rival gangs from the East African nation of Eritrea clashed with each other in the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday.
The rioters were supporters and opponents of Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki, who has been in power for more than 30 years. According to the Jerusalem Post, “Hundreds of police officers and refugees were injured as protests in Tel Aviv by Eritrean asylum seekers against the East African nation’s regime turned violent, Israel Police and local hospitals reported.”
Eritrean mobs swarmed the streets of Tel Aviv with makeshift weapons, destroying shops and public property while most Israelis observed the Sabbath. “Eritreans from both sides faced off with construction lumber, pieces of metal, rocks and at least one axe, tearing through a neighborhood of south Tel Aviv where many asylum seekers live. Protesters smashed shop windows and police cars, and blood spatter was seen on sidewalks,” The Times of Israel reported.
The Ynet reported Saturday:
Violent protests erupted between hundreds of Eritrean asylum-seekers and police in Tel Aviv on Saturday during a protest against an event organized by the Eritrean Embassy.The Police were attempting to disperse the rioters using riot control measures and live ammunition, and after hours of turmoil, law enforcement announced that peace had been restored to the area, while no less than 39 rioters were arrested.The police said some 30 officers were injured in the clashes, and protesters were shot by police firing live rounds after they felt “real danger to their lives.” Police in riot gear and on horses tried to corral the protesters, who broke through barricades and hurled chunks of sidewalk, batteries and rocks at the force.At least 135 individuals, including 15 in critical condition, were caught in the midst of chaos on the streets. Most of the wounded were brought to Souratsky Medical Center, as some of them suffered gunshot wounds while dozens more were taken to other area hospitals that declared a mass casualty event.Eritreans make up the majority of the more than 30,000 African asylum-seekers in Israel. They say they fled danger and persecution from a country known as the “North Korea of Africa” with forced lifetime military conscription in slavery-like conditions. [emphasis mine]
The Israeli government is considering measures to prevent further migrant rioting, including sending miscreants back to their country. “Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday convened a special meeting with his ministers to examine the way of handling “law-breaking infiltrators” following violent riots staged by Eritrean immigrants in Tel Aviv,” the TV channel i24NEWS reported.
“The Israeli government will convene a special ministerial committee tasked with exploring the possibility of deporting Eritrean migrants who were involved in Saturday’s riot in Tel Aviv and attacked police officers,” the TV network noted in a separate article.
The LA Times described the events on Saturday as “one of the most violent street confrontations among African asylum seekers and migrants in Tel Aviv in recent memory.” This is yet another incident of conflict from troubled and impoverished third-world countries spilling over to their host nation. Such rioting is repeatedly witnessed in European countries with large immigrant populations, such as France, Germany, and Italy.
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