Middle East

Dozens of police injured as clashes erupt among rival Eritrean groups in Israel

Supporters and opponents of Eritrean government face off against each other using lengths of timber, pieces of metal and rocks, as shop windows and police cars smashed

An anti Eritrean government protester is held by police in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday. Photograph: Jack Guez/AFP/Getty

Sat Sep 2 2023 - 19:14

Hundreds of Eritrean government supporters and opponents clashed with each other and with Israeli police on Saturday.

Dozens were injured in one of the most violent street confrontations among African asylum seekers and migrants in Tel Aviv in recent memory.

Among those hurt were 30 police officers and three protesters hit by police fire.

Eritreans from both sides faced off against each other with construction timber, pieces of metal, rocks and at least one axe, tearing through a neighbourhood of southern Tel Aviv where many asylum seekers live.

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Protesters smashed shop windows and police cars and blood spatter was seen on sidewalks.

One government supporter was lying in a puddle of blood in a children’s playground.

Israeli police in riot gear shot tear gas, stun grenades and live rounds, while officers on horseback tried to control the protesters, who broke through barricades and hurled chunks of rock at police.

Police said officers resorted to live fire when they felt their lives were in danger.

[ Violence drives more than 100,000 women to strike in Israel ]

Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he would convene a meeting to discuss steps against those who participated in the clashes, including deportations. A statement by his office referred to them as “illegal infiltrators”.

The clashes came as Eritrean government supporters marked the 30th anniversary of the current ruler’s rise to power. The event was held near the Eritrean embassy in southern Tel Aviv.

Israeli police said 27 officers were injured in the clashes, and at least three protesters were shot when police opened fire with live rounds. Many of the anti-government protesters wore sky blue shirts, while government supporters wore purple shirts. Photograph: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

Eritrea has one of the world’s worst human rights records. Asylum seekers in Israel and elsewhere say they fear death if they were to return.

Police said Eritrean government supporters and opponents had received permission for separate events on Saturday and had promised to stay away from each other.

At some point, the promises were broken, said Chaim Bublil, a Tel Aviv police commander.

“A decision was made by the government opponents to break through the barriers, to clash with the police, to throw stones, to hit police officers,” Mr Bublil told reporters at the scene.

He said the police had arrested 39 people and confiscated tasers, knives and clubs.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said at least 114 people were hurt, including eight who were in serious condition. Others had moderate or mild injuries. Of those hurt, 30 were police officers, said Mr Bublil.

Anti-government protesters carrying weapons in Tel Aviv unrest. Photograph: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

A spokesperson for Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital said it was treating 11 patients for gunshot wounds. Police said three protesters were wounded by police fire.

By late Saturday afternoon the clashes had stopped, but police were still rounding up protesters and putting them on buses.

Many of the anti-government protesters wore sky blue shirts designed after Eritrea’s 1952 flag, a symbol of opposition to the government of the east African country, while government supporters wore purple shirts with a map of Eritrea.

Eritreans make up the majority of the more than 30,000 African asylum seekers in Israel. They say they have fled danger and persecution from a country known as the “North Korea of Africa”, with forced life-time military conscription in slavery-like conditions.

Eritrea’s government has denounced anti-government protesters as “asylum scum” who have marched against similar events in Europe and North America.

Anti Eritrean government protesters in sky-blue shirts. Photograph: Ohad Zwigenberg/AP

President Isaias Afwerki (77), has led Eritrea since 1993, taking power after the country won independence from Ethiopia after a long guerrilla war. There have been no elections and there is no free media.

Exit visas are required for Eritreans to leave the country and many young people are forced into military service with no end date, human rights groups and United Nations experts say.

In Israel they face an uncertain future, as the state has attempted to deport them. Despite the struggle to stay, in often squalid conditions, many say they enjoy some freedoms they never would have at home – like the right to protest.

Sigal Rozen, from the Tel Aviv-based human rights organisation Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, said Eritrean asylum seekers are often “hunted and harassed” by the Eritrean government and its supporters inside Israel.

Elizabeth Chyrum, director of the London-based Human Rights Concern – Eritrea said events like the one held in Tel Aviv on Saturday are controversial because they raise money for the heavily sanctioned government and are used to pressure Eritreans far from home. – AP

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