State of emergency in Lod extended amid riots; Arab work sector strikes
The violence continued across Israel on Monday as police, as well as Fire and Rescue Services, struggled to respond to the volume of incidents.
By ZACHARY KEYSER, MAARIV ONLINEIsraeli police seen on the streets of the central Israeli city of Lod, where last night synagogues and cars were torched as well as shops damaged, by Arab residents rioted in the city, and ongoing this evening. May 12, 2021.(photo credit: YOSSI ALONI/FLASH90)
The Israeli government approved to extend the state of emergency in Lod by 48 hours, the Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday morning.The extension comes following the recommendations of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Israel Police and the Interior Ministry - making it possible to allocate rescue forces under police command, allot further access to required equipment and continue the restriction of movement on residents of the city.Further state of emergency extensions beyond three applications will require full government approval.Under the current curfew, residents of the city are prohibited from leaving their homes, except for going to protected areas amid rocket fire or to receive emergency medical treatment. Police warned that violations of these prohibitions are punishable by up to three years in prison.The extended order comes as Lod, Ramla and other cities with mixed populations of Israeli Jews and Arabs experience violent rioting and infighting on an almost nightly basis. The unrest has left one dead, scores injured, and homes, vehicles and businesses torched.The violence continued across Israel on Monday as the Police and Fire and Rescue Services struggled to respond to the volume of incidents. Some 71 people were arrested for disrupting public order on Monday night alone.Lod has become a main point of contention for police and rioters, having become a focal point for the civil unrest plaguing the country this past week.Amid the violence, a synagogue, homes, vehicles, garbage dumps and open areas have been torched in the southern Israeli city. Scores have been left injured from burns, stone-throwing incidents or targeted assaults. One person has died.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said while visited Lod on Thursday that there is no greater threat than the internal disturbances brewing throughout the country.In light of the recent countrywide turmoil, the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in Israel announced a general strike across the Arab-Israeli sector for Tuesday, to express solidarity with al-Aqsa Mosque and the residents of Sheikh Jarrah.
The committee's terms for the strike call for an end to the "massacre" in the Gaza Strip, the aggression in Jerusalem surrounding flashpoints such as al-Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah, and the immediate withdrawal of right-wing Jewish "settler gangs" and police forces from Arab cities and villages. The strike is also calling for a show of solidarity with those detained during the countrywide rioting.The strike itself will encompass the entire Arab work sector, with the exception of the private education system and the Arab health sector.The committee addressed a number of UN bodies and other foreign missions in Israel, requesting the protection of Arab-Israeli citizens, calling for them to "force Israel into taking immediate steps" to protect Palestinian citizens and bring an end to the violence against them.The leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Mofek Tarif, issued a public statement condemning all acts of violence against other human beings, adding that damage to public property and places of worship is particularly shameful and asking the public to act "wisely and tolerantly" to avoid further escalation.He added that Druze - who stand as a bridge of peace between communities and religions in Israel - have a "moral obligation" to calm the tides between Jewish Israelis and their Arab neighbors.Tarif also called on other religious leaders to speak out in condemnation of these illegal activities as he has, in the hopes other communities will follow suit toward nonviolence.
