15 arrested as hundreds demonstrate in Tel Aviv over cancelled trance festival
Doof festival scrapped over drug concerns; police say individuals detained at illegal protest for disturbing public order, attacking police officers, vandalism; 2 officers injured
Police said that 15 people were arrested at an illegal demonstration in Tel Aviv on Friday to protest a police decision to cancel a trance party over concerns there would be widespread selling of drugs at the event.
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected the Doof festival organizers’ request for an order that would delay the police decision, effectively sealing the fate of the music event.
In a statement, police said they enabled the demonstration to take place despite the lack of permit due to a desire to grant freedom of expression to protesters. However, the protest apparently turned violent when some of the approximately 600 demonstrators began to block roads and attack police officers.
Two police officers were injured.
The Doof festival, which was due to begin Saturday, lasts three days and has been held near Hamat Gader in the north of the country for 15 years. It attracts 4,000 participants from Israel and around the world.
Israel’s version of the Burning Man festival, Midburn, was cancelled Sunday after organizers failed to secure a venue in the wake of a decision by the IDF not to allow the event to take place on an area of land used as a training ground. The festival was to be relocated due to protests from residents close to the original site.
The Times of Israel Community.