Hundreds of police officers entered Tel Aviv's historically Arab suburb of Jaffa Tuesday as part of a nationwide crackdown on civilians suspected of having taken part in the recent racially motivated riots around the country.
Riots erupted in several mixed-population cities as tensions between Arab and Jews ran high.
Numerous acts of violence have been recorded in Jaffa, including firebomb attacks and lynching of both Arabs and Jews.
Dror Tamir, who was lynched by an Arab mob in Jaffa two weeks ago, recalled the attack: "I walked down the Yefet Street area in Jaffa because I wanted to cover what was happening there… I pulled out my camera and hoped to not attract too much attention,” Dror said.
“Someone came out of a store and asked what I was filming. I told him in English that we were live and asked him what he thought of Jews. He began hurling expletives at me.”
“A few feet away, a girl tried to snatch my phone from my hand... I then turned around and suddenly I saw people flinging their feet up into my stomach and I dropped to the floor,” he said.
“There was no ‘mutual violence’ — it is clear that we were attacked for being Jews,” Dror added. He went on to criticize law enforcement after four of his attackers were indicted for assaulting him and stealing his phone — without referencing their racist motive.
“This is how the prosecution and courts, in their own way, are legitimizing the next lynching. I have a feeling that the prosecution is aware of its own absurdity, so when my lawyer briefed me on the matter, he did not tell me the racially motivated charges were dropped.”
Other incidents around the city included a firebomb attack on a family home, in which a 12-year-old Arab boy was seriously wounded along with his sister, who suffered only mild injuries in the attack.
An angry mob also attacked a Channel 13 reporter, vandalizing his car and macing him with pepper spray.