Left-wing anti-war protesters in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem now need to travel in groups to avoid being caught alone by gangs of right-wing thugs who lurk at the fringes of left-wing protests and, like the biblical Amalek, physically attack isolated leftists as they try to make there way to or from the anti-war protests.
Above: Right wing thugs in Tel Aviv 2 weeks ago
Report: Right-Wing Thugs Target Leftist Anti-War Protesters As Police Do Little To Stop It
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Left-wing anti-war protesters in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem now need to travel in groups to avoid being caught alone by gangs of right-wing thugs who lurk at the fringes of left-wing protests and, like the biblical Amalek, physically attack isolated leftists as they try to make there way to or from the anti-war protests, Ha’aretz reporter Ohr Kashti wrote in an op-ed.
Leftists reportedly told Kashti of right-wing “manhunts” for leftists and a police force that has repeatedly failed to proved left-wing protesters with basic security.
Haifa anti-war protesters also told Kashti that right-wing thugs accosted some of them as they made their way to last Saturday night’s anti-war protest. The rightists confronted the leftists, asked where they were going, and then tried to prevent them from joining the anti-war protest by using intimidation and physical violence.
All the while, police – who know this is taking place – were nowhere to be found.
Kashti believes the root of this current crop of right-wing street thugs is a right wing group, Im Tirtzu, which is backed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and other senior Likud Party leaders.
Im Tirtzu was founded with strong Likud support five or six years ago, Kashti wrote, with the mission of “purifying” universities and other academic institution of left-wing professors and academics.
From that grew acceptance of the notion to “purify” the rest of the country from people who dare to object to the policies of Israel’s right wing – especially during a time of war.
Im Tirtzu may not be organizing and leading the right-wing mobs that hunted Arabs down on the streets of Jerusalem earlier this month and beat them, and who are hunting down left-wing anti-war protesters and beating them now. But Im Tirtzu’s philosophy-theology and Likud leaders’ craven acceptance and backing of it certainly has contributed to today’s right-wing street violence – as has police apathy towards it.
Police reportedly do little to stop the right-wing thugs from harassing and physically assaulting the leftists and consistently appear at demonstrations in very small numbers – too small to protect left-wing protesters from the right-wing thugs.
According to Kashti, police say the leftists’ have a “hypersensitivity” problem and say the the job of police is to allow “freedom of expression on all sides.”
But, Kashti notes, freedom of expression should not include the legitimization of violence or turning a near-blind eye to it. But multiple reports say this is exactly what police are doing.
While right-wing thugs have repeatedly resorted to violence and threats of violence to break up left-wing demonstrations, left-wing demonstrators have not.
But that difference in behavior is not properly handled by police, and that failure, intentional or not, allows these right-wing thugs to terrorize non-violent leftists with near impunity.