Tel-Chai Nation

After police arrested a suspect in the arson of a cellphone store, Haredi extremists used this as yet another excuse for senseless violence:

Dozens of residents of Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood rioted in the streets late Wednesday night, vandalizing vehicles, blocking roads and setting fire to trash cans.

The riot broke out after police arrested a suspect in the torching of a cellphone store in the city that sells smartphones. Many ultra-Orthodox people only use so-called kosher phones — devices stripped of social media and most other apps — and have rejected the sale of smartphones in their communities. Such riots have taken place several times in recent years.

Due to the various blocked-off roads, a bus driver appeared to have made a wrong turn into the neighborhood, leading to his vehicle being pelted with stones by rioters. By the time police arrived at the scene to rescue the driver, his tires were slashed and his windshield was cracked.

Police said a brick was also dropped from a building onto a police car below, causing significant damage to the vehicle.

Officers were scanning the area for suspects, but no injuries were reported as a result of the riot.

Unfortunately, now there's been at least one innocent reported injured:

A woman was seriously injured on Thursday night in Jerusalem during a protest by hundreds of ultra-Orthodox extremists.

The 40-year-old woman was passing by the protest when she was hit by a trash bin that had been sent rolling by the protesters.

She was lightly injured and sent to the hospital, but during the night, her condition deteriorated and she was listed in serious condition by the morning, Ynet reported.

[...] Firefighters put out the blazes, but one of the trash cans struck the woman, causing the injuries. It wasn’t clear if it was on fire when it hit her.

This is absolutely repulsive, and any rioters caught should be incarcerated and forced to pay high sums for her medical bills. Another most offensive form of behavior the thugs pulled was trying to embarrass incoming internal security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir:

The protesters shouted at police and Border Police officers, calling them “Nazis, murderers, terrorists,” the Walla news site reported.

“Ben Gvir is going to set things in order here,” they said, referring to the presumed incoming national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

However, in a statement released Friday, Ben Gvir called for police to use a “heavy hand” against the demonstrators.

“Violence is not freedom of speech, it’s anarchy,” Ben Gvir said. “Anarchists and bad apples need to be treated with a heavy hand.”

“The rioters who almost murdered a woman and harmed police need to go to prison for a very long time,” he said.

He's firmly correct on this, and was right to condemn the incident.

Police arrested at least two people for disturbing public order and setting fires. The suspects were taken to a police station for questioning.

After the Jerusalem protests began, separate demonstrations erupted in Beit Shemesh, an ultra-Orthodox city between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

The Beit Shemesh demonstrations came in response to the arrest of two residents a few days ago for suspected vandalism of public property.

And here, once again, we have savages in Beit Shemesh engaging in offensive behavior that, much like what happened in Mea Shearim, was also sympathetic to criminals. This is exactly why serious reparations are needed in the Haredi education system.

Update: Benjamin Netanyahu wisely issued condemnations of the terrible incident.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Jerusalem, misogyny, Moonbattery, terrorism