Family members of murder victims in the Arab community and protesters against what they call the authorities’ failed handling of crime and violence, dyed the water in fountains in Haifa, Tel Aviv and Beersheba red on Tuesday morning. At the same time, activists from the Standing Together movement blocked the entrance to Jerusalem near the Chords Bridge, protesting what they described as the “abandonment of Arab society.” Police detained seven people for questioning during protests in Haifa and Jerusalem.
The actions are part of a nationwide day of disruption declared by about 100 families of murder victims and are expected to include additional road blockages. In less than a month and a half since the start of 2026, 38 Arab citizens have been murdered in Israel. The most recent was Omar Yahya, 25, who was shot to death Sunday near his home in the northern town of Kafr Qara.
The protest at the entrance to Jerusalem on Tuesday morning
(Video: Alex Gamburg)
The protest in Tel Aviv
(Video: Standing Together)
Protest organizers called on the public to wear black to work and to stop work between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. A number of Jewish and Arab protest groups announced they would join. In Haifa, the fountain at the Memorial Garden was dyed red; in Tel Aviv, the Knesset Square fountain; and in Beersheba, the fountain at the city’s northern entrance.
“Today’s day of disruption is an escalation of the struggle and the fight against violence and crime in Arab society,” the organizers said in a statement. “The government is abandoning one-fifth of Israel’s population, and we must not be indifferent to this. We all need to join the struggle, Jews and Arabs alike.”
The Forum of Victims’ Families said: “We, who have paid with the lives of our sons, brothers, parents and relatives, say no more. We call on the entire Israeli public to take part in this day. Every day someone is murdered, and the government and police do nothing to change the situation. Today we all have an opportunity to take part in changing this reality. Only a shared struggle can change this insane situation.”
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The protest at the entrance to Jerusalem on Tuesday morning
(Photo: Standing Together)
Fida Shehadeh, CEO of the organization Influence for the Advancement of Local Leadership Against Crime and Violence, told the ynet studio this week that “the idea behind the disruptions is to go beyond the Arab towns and move the message from the margins to the center. Right now, when we demonstrate in Sakhnin or another Arab locality, it does not break through properly. It does not reach the media at the level we would like.”