Hundreds Protest Israeli Police’s Inaction After Case Closed On Homophobic Attack

Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Tel Aviv's police headquarters on Wednesday, after Israeli police decided earlier this week to close their investigation into the vandalism of a Tel Aviv apartment displaying an LGBTQ+ pride flag, just 10 days after the investigation was launched.

Demonstrators waved rainbow flags and chanted “Homophobia begins in the halls of the government.” Some demonstrators also held signs depicting Zoheir, the 23-year-old gay Palestinian who was killed by the Lion's Den militant group in Nablus after being blackmailed by the Shin Bet security service to act as an informant.

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Last month, after a weekly mass demonstration against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, several right-wing youths approached the apartment building in Tel Aviv's Montefiore neighborhood, with some chanting “leftists go home” and “Kahane lives.” The group was filmed trying to tear down a pride flag hanging from the apartment and threw stones at the window, shattering it.

According to ‘Haaretz’, the police closed the case on Sunday, explaining that they could not identify the suspects, some of whose faces were covered during the act, from security footage in the area, even through there are at least two separate videos of the youths making their way to the area. Witnesses who recorded the youths throwing the rocks were also never questioned by police. Social media researchers who analysed the recordings were able to identify some of the suspects from that night.

Protest organisers are demanding that the police increase protection for queer people while taking actions against assailants. According to the Aguda - The Association for LGBTQ Equality in Israel, there was a fourfold increase in the number of violent incidents against LGBTQ+ people in March compared to the same month last year.

Speaking before the crowd, Aguda chairwoman Hila Peer accused the police of “abandoning the personal safety of the queer community and adopting the spirit of their queerphobic commander” in the government, in an apparent reference to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Shoval Hachmon, who lives in the apartment that was targeted by the vandals, also spoke at the protest. “No one should have to live in fear in their country, in their streets and especially in their homes. The LGBTQ community was always and will always be a part of this country, no matter how much they try to oppress us, humiliate us, take our rights away or silence us – we will not be silent,” he said.

“Sadly, any disregard from the institutions that are supposed to protect us in this country give their unofficial approval for homophobia and transphobia, for attacking and persecuting members of the LGBTQ community.”

Oded, who was attacked along with his partner in their home in Tel Aviv last week, addressed the demonstration as well. “The Israel Police must understand that the LGBTQ community and its supporters in Israel are not an oppressed minority, but the majority – we are everywhere, in every village, city and town in Israel, and we deserve protection against extremists who wish the worst on us. It is the police's job to protect us, and they have failed to do their jobs.”

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