South Tel Aviv Residents who support the expulsion of African migrants who have been living in the area for almost a decade, protested on Thursday night after a year has passed without the migrants being deported. Some protesters railed against the Netanyahu government who promised last year to expel the migrants but have since reneged on that promise. Some protesters burned effigies of Interior Minister Aryeh Deri which lead to a backlash from elected officials.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ordered a probe into possible incitement after videos and images surfaced of the incident.

Politicians from across the spectrum condemned the act – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I respect the real distress that the residents of south Tel Aviv are feeling,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “The government I lead, together with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, is working tirelessly to deport the infiltrators from Israel, in ways both seen and unseen.”

שום מחאה לא מצדיקה שריפת תמונות של שרים. אלה תמונות שמתאימות למדינות אחרות לא לנו. אני מצפה מראשי המחאה בדרום תל אביב לגנות את המעשה.

— אביגדור ליברמן (@AvigdorLiberman) August 31, 2018

הזכות להפגין היא מהחשובות בדמוקרטיה שלנו, אך אני מגנה כל מעשה אלימות בצדה. אני תומך במחאתם המוצדקת והצודקת של תושבי דרום תל אביב אולם שריפת תמונתו של השר דרעי אמש היא חציית גבול ואסור שתעבור לסדר היום.

— Yuli Edelstein 🇮🇱 (@YuliEdelstein) August 31, 2018

תושבי דרום תל אביב חיים שנים ארוכות בתנאי גיהנום: פשע גובר, פחד להסתובב בלילות, השחתה נוראה של בתיהם ובתי הכנסת שלהם, ותחושה שאיבדו את ביתם.
שפי, חיים, איילה ואחרים נלחמים ללא הפסק.
אכן, אסור לשרוף תמונת שר; אך מתבלבלים כאן בפרופורציות. חבל שצריך מעשים נואשים כדי לעורר תשומת לב.

— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) August 31, 2018

Some 400 people gathered to take part in the protest and held signs that read: “Southern city do not give up hope, soon the expulsion will come.” Another read: “Not a refugee, nor a person who needs pity, just an intruder, an infiltrator.”

Shefi Paz, one of the organizers of the protest said: “One year ago Prime Minister  Netanyahu, you promised us that these people wouldn’t be here anymore. Now is the time to keep that promise. I will speak clearly and in a  way that is not politically correct. We don’t want you here. Eritreans, Sudanese, Indians, Georgians, Moldovans, Ukrainians, Columbians, Nepalese, Filipinos and anyone else who came t this country illegally, or is staying illegally, we simply don’t want you. We ask that you go home. For those who do not wish to go home, or who can’t go home, we demand from the government that they deport you against your will. This must come to be without a Class-Action suit, without a High Court Decision and without the United Nations getting involved.”

“Our goal,” continued Paz, “is to have the southern part of Tel Aviv returned to its people.

Director of the Right-Wing  organization known as Im Tirzu, said that the refugees are a threat to Israel’s very existence. As our country continues to grow economically, the desire of African refugees to come here will only increase. The screams for a solution by the residents of the southern part of the city, is a just and true scream and it is important for everyone in the country to pay attention and listen to it.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)