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On 2 September 2023, violent clashes took place in the streets of South Tel Aviv between
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
n migrants opposing
Isaias Afwerki Isaias Afwerki (, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and leader who has been the List of heads of state of Eritrea, president of Eritrea since 1993 and the chairman of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) since 1994 ...
's government, migrant supporters of
Isaias Afwerki Isaias Afwerki (, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and leader who has been the List of heads of state of Eritrea, president of Eritrea since 1993 and the chairman of the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) since 1994 ...
's government, and later with
Israeli police The Israel Police (; ) is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism. It is under the jurisdiction o ...
trying to restore order. As a result of the clashes, more than 110 people were injured and 68 were arrested., url-access=subscription}


Background

Isaias Afwerki has ruled
Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
since independence in 1991. The country does not hold elections and lacks a
parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, independent courts, and civil organizations. The country has a
one-party system A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...
;
freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...
and press are severely restricted. There is also strict compulsory military service and a system of forced labor from which many Eritreans flee abroad. According to the Assaf refugee aid organization, there are currently about 25,500 Eritrean
asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A per ...
s living in Israel. Eritreans who fled to Israel across the border with Egypt say they would face persecution if they were repatriated. The refugees have settled in a number of poor neighborhoods in the city of
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
, Israel's economic capital. The clashes erupted during an event organized by the Eritrean embassy to mark Revolution Day on September 1, which commemorates the start of Eritrea's
war of independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
against
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
in 1961. Anti-government protesters had earlier asked police to cancel a pro-government event organized by the Eritrean embassy in Israel. They also accused the Eritrean embassy of trying to spy on them. The protests came amid the judicial reform protests against
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
.


Clashes

On 2 September, clashes broke out after hundreds of opposition Eritrean immigrant Eritreans, approached the site of a pro-government event. Many of the anti-government demonstrators wore sky blue shirts inspired by the 1952 Eritrean flag, a symbol of opposition to the country's government, while government supporters wore purple shirts with a map of Eritrea. Protesters broke through police barriers and smashed the windows of police and other vehicles, as well as the windows of nearby shops, Haaretz newspaper reported. They were also able to enter the grounds outside the Eritrean embassy and smashed chairs and tables. Footage on social media showed Eritrean government supporters beating anti-government demonstrators with batons. Reuters journalists saw men with head wounds and bloody hands, some lying on the ground of a children's playground.
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...
correspondent Paul Brennan said that police did not expect the intensity of the violence that erupted. "The demonstrators managed to break through the barriers quite quickly. Police had to respond with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. There were running battles between the demonstrators and the police in riot equipment," he said. Residents said the streets of central Tel Aviv sounded like a war zone as police helicopters buzzed overhead and Israeli officers fired live rounds into the air. Police said they had arrested 39 suspects who attacked police officers and pelted them with rocks. Some of them had guns, tear gas, and stun guns, officers said. Police also said they were reinforcing their personnel in the area as clashes between Eritreans among themselves and with police reportedly continued in south Tel Aviv. By the evening, the clashes had stopped, but police were still making street checks and rounding up protesters, putting them on buses, for up to a total of 68 detained.


Injuries

Israeli medical officials said more than 114 people were injured, including about 30 police officers.


Reactions

Prime Minister of Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
said he would convene a meeting on 3 September to discuss measures against those involved in the clashes, including deportations. A statement from his office called them "illegal infiltrators". On 3 September, Netanyahu said the Eritreans involved in the Tel Aviv clashes should be deported. "We want harsh measures against the rioters, including the immediate deportation of those who took part," the prime minister said in a special ministerial meeting called to deal with the aftermath of the violence. Netanyahu requested his ministers present him with plans "for the removal of all the other illegal infiltrators", and noted in his remarks that the Supreme Court struck down some measures meant to coerce people to leave. An Israeli senior police officer said, "We were very surprised by the level of violence, with sights you see only in the West Bank."


Aftermath

On September 18, an Israeli custody review tribunal ordered the release of at least 23 Eritrean nationals on the basis of lack of evidence.


See also

*
2023 Israeli judicial reform protests From January to October 2023, large-scale protests took place across Israel in response to the government's push for a 2023 Israeli judicial reform, wide-ranging judicial reform. The proposed reform aimed to give the government full control of ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eritrean clashes in Tel Aviv, 2023 2023 crimes in Israel 2023 in international relations 2020s in Tel Aviv September 2023 crimes in Asia September 2023 in Israel Conflicts in 2023 Political violence in Israel Clashes in Tel Aviv Eritrean diaspora