Protesters hold nationwide ‘day of disruption’ over soaring violent crime in Arab community
Man killed in the Galilee as 4 protesters arrested at Haifa rally demanding police act against surging homicides; 7 others detained for pouring red dye in fountain, blocking traffic
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Protesters on Tuesday took to the streets in cities nationwide alongside relatives of homicide victims, demanding police act against the surging violence in Arab communities, where another deadly shooting occurred amid the demonstrations.
The protests, part of a “day of disruption” over the issue, drew hundreds to demonstrations in cities including Jaffa, Lod and Haifa, where police arrested four protesters during a march down a road.
Activists with Standing Together, a Jewish-Arab movement spearheading the day’s demonstrations, kicked off the day-long protest action by blocking major roads in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Police arrested two in the capital while dispersing protesters from the road.
Some activists also poured red dye, meant to symbolize the bloodshed, into water fountains in Haifa and Tel Aviv. The stunt led to four arrests in Haifa and one in Tel Aviv.
All seven were released from the police station by noon.
From there, protesters continued to take to the streets. Medical staff at five hospitals across the country also briefly stopped working at noon in protest of the deteriorating situation in Arab locales, heading outside to protest.
“My friends who have clinics in Arab society are threatened all the time. These are our people. There have been doctors who have been murdered, and there is an entire world of families suffering from post-trauma,” said Irit Meretyk, the head of the doctors’ association at Rambam Medical Center.
She called on the Israel Medical Association to throw their backing behind the fledgling protest movement.
In the evening, protesters gathered in Haifa’s German Colony, as another homicide occurred east of the coastal city, in the Galilee village of Kafr Kanna, where a man in his 30s named Salah Jabr was shot to death.
He was the 40th member of the Arab community to be violently killed since the start of 2026, according to the Abraham Initiatives, an organization that tracks Arab homicide victims.
Attending the Haifa protest was the organization’s head of public affairs, Yanal Jabarin, who insisted that this current wave of violence is far from inevitable and rather “the result of long-standing policy failure and state neglect.”
Ashraf Suleiman, whose nephew Najwan Suleiman was shot and killed last year in the northern city of Tamra, spoke during the rally, saying his family “never thought one of its own sons would be murdered in cold blood.”
“We grew up on the values of loving the other, respecting the law, and making an honorable livelihood,” said Suleiman. Najwan’s mother has been a teacher for more than 30 years, his father works long hours at a port to provide for his family, he added.
Despite being raised in a normal family by two hardworking parents, “the evil reached us as well,” Suleiman lamented.
“We leave the house not knowing whether we’ll return. On our streets, there is another kind of war,” he continued. He accused police of leaving Arab citizens on their own to deal with criminals who “hallow a culture of power, guns and intimidation.”
After hearing Suleiman speak, protesters attempted to march down the sidewalk, but police hurried to disperse them, arresting four demonstrators.
In footage of one of the arrests, a pair of police officers were seen holding a man to the ground, one with a knee on the man’s neck. Mounted officers were also at the protest site, alongside a handful of undercover police.
הערב בחיפה – מעצר אלים של מפגין.
אחד השוטרים מצמיד ברך לצווארו של המפגין.10/02/2026 חיפה מתוך החשבון של @BetterPocker pic.twitter.com/I9xrBOlQJk
— אלימות ישראל (@Alimut_Israel) February 10, 2026
Police said they arrested the demonstrators after they “continued with an illegal procession against the conditions” on which the protest was approved. Some of them attempted to block traffic, police added.
In 2025, Arab society saw its deadliest year on record, with 252 homicide deaths in total. This year has seen killings continue at an even faster pace, and 2026 stands to be even bloodier if the current trends remain the same.
Critics blame police, and in particular the minister responsible for law enforcement, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. Since Ben Gvir took office, the homicide rate in Arab society doubled.
The Times of Israel Community.