A new video came to light on Sunday morning, showing the moment the garbage can which seriously injured a woman started to roll before catching fire during haredi (ultra-Orthodox) riots in Jerusalem.
Mirel Dzalovsky, the 40-year-old woman who was injured during the riots by extremist protestors, is still in serious condition, unconscious and intubated after she got hit by the rolling and burning garbage can that was pushed in her direction.
תיעוד: דרדור הפח במחאת החרדים בירושלים שגרם לפציעתה של אישה באורח קשה@SuleimanMas1 (צילום: כיכר השבת) pic.twitter.com/d9oDukaB2p
— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) December 18, 2022
She was hit on the head and was evacuated to the hospital for treatment, her condition initially being categorized as good, but later it worsened and is now recognized as serious but stable.
The reason for the protests
Dozens of protestors rioted on Thursday night and blocked roads in central Jerusalem, demonstrating against the arrest of a man suspected of burning a store that sold phones which in his eyes were "not kosher."
"Recently, and especially over the last few nights, we have witnessed violent extremists breaking the law, harming policemen and citizens in the Jerusalem city center and in Beit Shemesh," the Jerusalem District Police said.
The protests are happening "against the backdrop of the arrest of a suspect for setting fire to a cell phone store at the beginning of the week," the statement continued. "These are violent and illegal disturbances, with no resemblance to a legal protest."
"This violence was directed at a bus, at police cars and police officers, and yesterday, also at a passerby who was seriously injured."
Violent protests - a regular occurrence?
Prime Minister Yair Lapid commented on the injury of the woman on his Twitter account: " I am sending wishes of a speedy recovery to the woman who was injured seriously yesterday during the riots by ultra-orthodox in Jerusalem yesterday. I am calling on the police to investigate quickly and to strictly punish the guilty."
Protests by ultra-Orthodox protestors have turned into riots on a few occasions during the last few years. Especially when an issue clashed with the ultra-Orthodox worldview, protests escalated quickly.
Examples include opposition to induction notices to the IDF or the light rail construction in Jerusalem over the last couple of years, where acts of vandalism caused tens of thousands of shekels in damage from tearing down fences, burning garbage bins and sabotaging infrastructure.