Palestinian flags waved in Tel Aviv after deadly terror attacks, 3 arrested

1,000 demonstrators block highway, major thoroughfares in protest of settler rioting; Event organizer blames “occupation” and right-wing government for recent shooting, rather than Palestinian terrorism.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv protesting against a settler riot in Huwara blocked major thoroughfares in the city, including an exit ramp for Ayalon Highway, on Monday evening, leading to the arrest of three people.

Some 1,000 protesters marched through the city, with dozens waving Palestinian flags, just hours after an American-Israeli was killed in a terror attack.

The co-director of Standing Together, the left-wing group that organized the demonstration, posted a picture of the victim of the latest terror shooting, Elan Ganeles, shortly before the protest began.

In his tweet, Alon-Lee Green blamed the current right-wing government for Ganeles’ murder but made no mention of Palestinian and Islamic terrorism and incitement to violence against Israelis as the root cause of the shooting.

“How many more deaths will the government lead us to in this never-ending cycle until we realize that there will be no security with an occupation?” Green wrote underneath a photo of Ganeles.

Two Israeli brothers were killed by Palestinian terrorists on Sunday in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Huwara. Palestinians in Huwara and nearby cities celebrated the murders by distributing sweets.

Hours later on Sunday evening, settlers rioted in the town, burning cars and damaging property.

Standing Together released a call to action on Twitter hours before the demonstration, urging attendance. Demonstrators will “scream against settlements, against terror, and against the occupation,” the Twitter post read.

“We all came with a clear message: A nation that occupies another nation will never be free, we will fight against settler terror and the occupation, Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis, and we will win,” Standing Together wrote.

About an hour after the march began, participants clashed with police, who attempted to stop the protesters from blocking the roads and highway. Two protesters were arrested for disturbing the peace.

A third person, who was identified as a 19-year-old from the central Israeli city of Yehud, was also detained for allegedly pepper-spraying the demonstrators.

Despite the police’s attempt at dispersing the crowd, the demonstrators successfully blocked Kaplan Street and other central roads, snarling traffic in Tel Aviv for hours.

Monday’s chaotic protest comes as a prelude to a “day of struggle” set for Wednesday, in which anti-judicial reform demonstrators are being encouraged to “disrupt” cities throughout Israel, according to the protest organizers.