“They started to destroy our car. They hit the window really hard. They smashed the mirrors,” she said.
By David Isaac, World Israel News
Four young Jews surrounded by Arab rioters in Jaffa on Sunday said they “survived a lynch,” Arutz7 reports.
They had unwittingly driven their car into the middle of a riot. Arabs surrounded their vehicle “from every direction,” one of the girls in the car said. They were spit on and cursed.
“We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t have anywhere to escape. They surrounded us with people and motorcycles. When we closed the windows to save ourselves, they started to smash the car. They beat on the windows and broke the mirrors,” said one girl.
When they finally succeeded in escaping, which one of them described as “a miracle,” they were in for another shock. The Israeli policeman they went to nearby for help was indifferent.
“He was aware of the demonstration. We went up to him. We were in, like, trauma. He like played dumb with us. You see a traumatized group, that like survived a lynch, and he didn’t even deal with us. He said, ‘Fine, go to the police station.’ At least ask, ‘Are you OK? Something,'” said a second girl.
“If it had been the other way around, I’m sure that there would have been an uproar, a lot of noise. We received only disrespect from every police station that we turned to. We didn’t receive a basic response. Just ‘Go somewhere else. We can’t help you,’” said the first girl.
An attorney from Honenu, a legal aid group, is helping the driver of the car, who has filed a complaint with the police.
On Sunday, police deployed large forces in Jaffa to deal with the illegal protest. Arabs have gathered frequently to demonstrate, often violently, over a decision of the Tel Aviv municipality to build a homeless shelter where an ancient Muslim cemetery once stood.
The demonstrators on Sunday threw stones at police. Four were arrested.
After putting a brief stay on construction to look into the issue, Tel Aviv District Court Judge Limor Bibi gave the go ahead two weeks ago for the Municipality to continue building the shelter.