(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has declared a state of emergency in his country’s central city of Lod following “wide-scale riots” engaged in and organized by Arab residents. It comes after an Israeli Arab citizen was killed this week during bitter clashes between Israelis and supporters of Palestinian terrorists.
The Arab Israeli was shot and killed and two others were wounded during protests by Arab residents overnight between Monday and Tuesday.
During The protests, Arab participants flew Hamas and Palestinian flags and called for the “liberation” of Palestine. A synagogue, a school, the city hall, and even a pre-army military academy were targeted by the protesters.
A mob of Arab protesters also reportedly threw bombs and stones are Jewish-owned homes in Lod.
A local Jewish resident, Hadar Miller, described the tragic riots as “like Kristallnacht…in a city in central Israel.
Miller said that she had lives in Lod for 12 years with her family and they were “proud of the co-existence” of Arab and Jewish people in the city, but added that violence had been getting worse there for several months.
“And yesterday all the lines were crossed,” she said. “Now a friend of mine is in detention for defending himself.”
That does sound like a good reason to call for a state of emergency…
Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly visited the city, which is technically in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, and called for calm – but it hasn’t worked.
Lod is home to 77,000 people. 23,000 are Arab Israelis and 47,000 are Jewish Israelis.
“Wide-scale riots erupted by some of the Arab residents and endangering communities. Vehicles were burnt and damage caused to property,” a statement from the local police said.
Sixteen border police platoons were mobilized in areas to deal with the violence, but it is understood to be ongoing. We’ll report back with updates on this.
