Avi Farchan and Likud MK Ayoub Kara at protest
Avi Farchan and Likud MK Ayoub Kara at protestArutz Sheva

Avi Farchan, who was expelled by the government along with thousands of other Jews from Gush Katif in Gaza in 2005 and Yamit in the Sinai in 1982, told Arutz Sheva on Monday morning about the lessons protesting Ethiopian Jews should learn from those expulsions and the failed protests surrounding them.

Farchan took part in the protests on Sunday, which have broken out in response to the brutal assault of an Ethiopian Jewish soldier last Sunday in Holon at the hands of a police officer, and which aim to address inequalities suffered by the Ethiopian community.

"I was at the protest yesterday and I identified with the Ethiopian Jews," Farchan told Arutz Sheva. "The demonstration started as a protest, and continued with violence, but unfortunately this seems to be the only way to get the attention of politicians, the media, and Israeli society."

The protests did indeed merit responses from the political echelon as well as massive media coverage, as well as talk of steps to address the complaints of the protesters.

However, the protest ended with 68 wounded and 43 arrests, as violence erupted between aggressive protesters and police officers.

Scenes from the protest last night showing the protesters overturning a police car can be seen below.

"I'm against violence, but we need to remember that violence isn't just physical, there's also violence of the state and politicians who don't do what they must," noted Farchan.

Speaking about his experiences opposing government policies in the past, he added, "we struggled for Gush Katif in a much more moderate fashion, and that's why until today we are refugees in our own land."

A large portion of the 9,500 Jews who were uprooted from Gush Katif in Gaza still suffer from unemployment and homelessness, a full ten years since the Disengagement Plan, which allowed the Hamas terrorist organization to seize power.