A protest erupted on Yefet Street in Tel Aviv-Yafo on Wednesday after police arrested a man who allegedly violated the Health Ministry’s coronavirus quarantine orders, police reported. Dozens of people took part in the protest. The street is in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, where many Arab-Israelis reside. Police reported that the man was aided by family members and other men who arrived with stones and sticks with the intention of confronting the security forces. Four men were arrested and the violator was fined for breaking the Health Ministry regulations. Police said that it usually protects the right of protesters but could not allow violence against its own men or risk placing the public's health at risk during the time of a pandemic. In a video released on social media, the man can be seen being pushed away and falling hard on the sidewalk as other people rush to his aid and shout at the police officers.
MK Sami Abu Shehadeh from the Arab Joint List took to social media to write that once again the "Police has shown its brutality to citizens in general and Arab citizens in particular." He argued that the pandemic of COVID-19 is one more reason to be baffled by this show of force, which he claimed was placing the officers themselves at risk.אלימות המשטרה ביפו מוכיחה שוב את היחס הברוטלי שלה כלפי האזרחים בכלל והאזרחים הערבים בפרט. במשבר הקשה של כל העולם אל מול הקורונה, אין איך להבין את את ההתנהגות וההתנהלות של המשטרה. בדרך בה הם נהגו, המשטרה סיכנה את התושבים ביפו ואת כוחותיה בצורה מיותרת. pic.twitter.com/hUurm230dF
— Sami Abou Shahadeh (@ShahadehAbou) April 1, 2020