For those paying attention to the news in the US and Israel, it’s hard not to notice two coincidental events that happened nearly simultaneously.
On May 25, an unarmed black man named George Floyd was inadvertently killed by the police in Minneapolis. Meanwhile in Israel, just five days later on June 30, an unarmed Arab named Iyad Halaq, 32, was also killed by Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City. According to reports, the police shot him after he fled while refusing to drop what they deemed to be a suspicious object. Halaq allegedly suffers from autism.
And while Floyd’s death stole every headline sparking an unprecedented wave of mass protests and violent riots throughout the United States, the left in Israel seems to be trying to latch onto the momentum and lead a similar campaign of mayhem here in Israel.
But despite several protests calling for ‘Justice for Halaq’ while trying to connect the two incidents by waving signs reading ‘Palestinian Lives Matter’, the protests themselves garnered only a hundred and some odd participants on fair weather days. Most of the protesters are the same people Israel is used to seeing in the anti-Netanyahu rallies, as well as some of the other more common left-wing protests.
Below is a ‘Palestinian Lives Matter’ protest in Haifa
ניצול מקרה איאד אלחלאק על ידי ערבים בחיפה עם שלטים של Palestinian lives matter שצועקים: “ברוח ובדם נפדה אותך שהיד, צאו לרחובות יא מורדים, תנו לכל העולם לעלות באש, יא ציוני שומע? נשבור את הרחובות! מגיע העימות, אמרו זאת לשב”כ הכלבים, אנחנו נמות ופלסטין תחיה”pic.twitter.com/Xf3AuU6zwk
— Moran T موران ت (@MoranT555) June 2, 2020
On Tuesday, one such protest took place in Jerusalem organized by the New Israel Fund backed ‘Standing Together’ NGO. Their well oiled PR machine mobilized the mainstream media outlets in Israel to cover the fact that their protests blocked the light rail in Jerusalem. But for those familiar with the light rail realize just how insignificant that accomplishment is. That’s because just about every Thursday and Saturday night, the light rail is inadvertently blocked as it runs on a pedestrian walkway where window shoppers often block its path without realizing. Three protesters were subsequently arrested.
Below is a video of the police arresting three of the protesters – a mere nuisance at best.
It should be noted that the New Israel Fund is a radical left-wing organization who has enjoyed backing from billionaire currency manipulator George Soros.
Perhaps acknowledging that their attempts have failed, protest organizers appear to have abandoned Halaq’s legacy and go straight to an Israeli satellite version of the Floyd protest. Also on Tuesday, a ‘Black Lives Matter’ protest took place at the US consulate in Tel Aviv.
Over 100 Israelis in front of US embassy in Tel Aviv, chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace” showing solidarity with protests in the US calling for justice after the killing of George Floyd. pic.twitter.com/lQz2SecXcz
— Allison K. Sommer (@AllisonKSommer) June 2, 2020
“Over 100” is being generous.
But the push isn’t just happening in the streets. The online magazine ‘972 Mag’, also backed by the New Israel Fund, posted a feature article not only conflating the two killings, but claiming that “police were designed to take Black and Palestinian lives, not protect them.” Needless to say, as of this time the piece hasn’t enjoyed a single comment.
Who knows. Perhaps the left will now have to go back to doing what they’re good at – igniting a good old intifada.
