5 arrested at TA protest against 'infiltrator law'

Demonstrators block Tel Aviv thoroughfares in protest of law that would allow detention without trial of illegal immigrants.

By BEN HARTMAN
Protesters against 'infiltrator law' block streets 311 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Protesters against 'infiltrator law' block streets 311
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
A couple hundred demonstrators gathered in central Tel Aviv Tuesday night, blocking a central thoroughfare for over an hour to protest the Bill to Prevent Infiltration, passed late Monday night in the Knesset. Police arrested five demonstrators for disorderly conduct.
Chanting “no concentration camps” and “deport the interior minister” among other slogans, the protesters blocked off Rehov Ibn Gvirol next to the municipality to voice their outrage at the law which will allow for the detention without trial of people who infiltrate Israel’s borders illegally.
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Once police cleared the road, a number of the protesters continued to Rehov Dizengoff and attempted to block that street as well.
The law allows for the detention of those who enter Israel for up to three years and also allows the state to seek imprisonment for those assisting illegal migrants.
There are around an estimated 50,000 illegal African migrants in Israel, according to statistics from the Population, Immigration, and Borders Authority. They are predominantly male and come to Israel mainly from Eritrea and Sudan.
JPost.com staff contributed to this report.