‘None of Us Are Immune From Police Violence’: Hundreds Protest George Floyd Murder in Tel Aviv

Chanting "Black lives matter" and "No justice, no peace," some 300 people gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy's Tel Aviv branch Tuesday, to protest the killing of George Floyd that triggered a wave of demonstrations across America over the past week.

The protesters, most of them in their twenties, held up signs reading “Dismantle racism now,” “If you aren’t livid, you’re not listening!” and “I stand with Minneapolis.” Some had scrawled “I can’t breathe” across the surgical masks they were wearing as protection against the coronavirus.  

Toosheyah Butler, 23, who lives in Ashkelon, told the crowd: “When I saw the video of George Floyd and saw him crying out for his mother – as the mother of a boy, for me it was like seeing my brother, my father, my cousins, my friends or my son lying on the ground, defenseless. I want peace, but I also want justice. … In 2020, you can get away with murder. You can murder a black man and get away with it because you can just say 'I was scared for my life.'"