For most of its history, Lod, composed of two-thirds Jews and one-third Arabs, was a model of coexistence. That dream was shattered in May when the Arabs rioted, attacking Jews in the streets carrying out arson, stone-throwing, and vandalism. The Jews reacted, sometimes violently. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared a state of emergency in Lod on May 11th, 2021, marking the first time since 1966 that Israel has used emergency powers over an Arab community. At least three synagogues were targeted by firebombs.
After the 11-day conflict between Israel and Gaza ended, it seemed that the idealistic calm had returned to the seaside city. But this was not the case. As the final Jewish high holiday of Sukkot rolled around, the Jews of Lod began to prepare by erecting Sukkot (booths). Cases of rock-throwing were being reported as were dozens of cases in which Arabs destroyed Sukkot. In many cases, the temporary structures were not only overturned but the materials from which they were built were destroyed.
Yedidyah Tzuckerman posted an image of one such Sukkah on Facebook with the caption, “The new branch of sport in Lod: destroying Jewish Sukkot”.
MK Nir Orbach responded to the post saying: “A lot of frustration and a lot of sadness. The Sukkah symbolizes our ephemerality and that we must trust our Father in heaven. May God stop the hand that corrupted this Sukkah and other Sukkot. And I demand that the Israeli police get their hands on the vandals.“
Originally posted at vfinews.com