Tens of thousands of Arab and Jewish protesters turned out in Tel Aviv Saturday night for a massive rally, accusing the government of neglecting its Arab citizens and allowing violence to run rampant in the community.

The unprecedented demonstration in Habima Square briefly united Israel’s overwhelmingly Jewish anti-government protest movement with the country’s Arab citizens, who have become increasingly vocal in the face of pervasive crime.

The crowd was a highly unusual mix of Arab families and regular protesters against the right-wing government. Organizers estimated that some 40,000 Jewish and Arab protesters were in attendance.

Near the front of the demonstration, a gray-haired man wearing a shirt from the reservist protest group “Brothers in Arms” stood near a woman with a keffiyeh draped over her shoulders.

Further into the crowd, a group of teenagers could be seen chanting in Arabic: “Hey police, hey police, Arab blood isn’t cheap,” to a rhythm set by Jewish drummers.

Protesters waved black flags, which have become the chief symbol of the burgeoning movement against crime in Arab communities. Other signs read in English “Arab Lives Matter,” borrowing the phrasing of the US-based Black Lives Matter movement.

The rally was organized by the High Follow-Up Committee, the leading body for Arab citizens of Israel, in an effort to capture the attention of the Jewish public and win support for Arab society’s struggle against organized crime.

The struggle has picked up over the past two weeks, starting with a local strike in the northern city of Sakhnin sparked by a businessowner whose shops had been targeted in extortion-related shootings, which spread out to Arab locales throughout the country.

Speaking from onstage, Sakhnin’s Mayor Mazen Ghnaim said that “we want personal security,” after 27 Arab citizens fell........

© The Times of Israel