PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv

Photos: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org, Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org
Text: Haggai Matar

Approximately 2,000 African asylum seekers and Israeli activists marched from Levinsky Park in south Tel Aviv to Rothschild Boulevard Saturday night to protest the arrests that took place during two “freedom marches” earlier this week. They blocked major intersections in the heart of the city while chanting “freedom!” At least three protesters were arrested.

PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
African asylum seekers march in Tel Aviv to protest prolonged detention, arrests made during “freedom marches” earlier in the week. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Earlier this week, a group of approximately 150 asylum seekers went on a two-day “freedom march” from the Holot “open prison” in Israel’s south to the Knesset in Jerusalem. Upon their arrival, the group was arrested, placed on buses and sent to a closed facility in the Negev. Just one day later, another 130 asylum seekers left Holot, this time in the direction of Tel Aviv. That time, immigration officers stopped the march shortly after it began.

PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
African asylum seekers march in Tel Aviv to protest government policies, arrests made during “freedom marches” earlier in the week. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
African asylum seekers march in Tel Aviv to protest government policies, arrests made during “freedom marches” earlier in the week. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
Israeli activists help an African asylum seeker who was pepper sprayed during a refugee protest in Tel Aviv. (photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)
PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
Police hold back Asylum seekers, Israeli protesters during march in central Tel Aviv. (photo: Activestills.org
PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
African asylum seekers march in Tel Aviv to protest prolonged detention, arrests made during “freedom marches” earlier in the week. (photo: Activestills.org)
PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
African asylum seekers march in Tel Aviv to protest prolonged detention, arrests made during “freedom marches” earlier in the week. (photo: Activestills.org)
PHOTOS: Thousands of African asylum seekers protest prolonged detention in Tel Aviv
African asylum seekers march in Tel Aviv to protest prolonged detention, arrests made during “freedom marches” earlier in the week as Israelis attending a performance at the Bima national theater look on. (photo: Activestills.org)

 

End of article module for Members

TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence.    We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies.   This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza.   We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives.   Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

Make a Donation