Wadi Salib riots

On July 9, 1959, police confronted a Wadi Salib resident, Yaakov Elkarif, who was drunk and disturbing the peace. When he began behaving erratically and hurling empty bottles at the police sent to arrest him, he was shot and seriously wounded. Residents surrounded the police vehicle and dragged an officer out of it. He was released only after shots were fired in the air. Conflicting testimonies arose from the event. One witness claimed Elkarif provoked the officer through threats. Another witness offered that Elkarif, perceived as a stereotypical Moroccan immigrant—i.e., violent and hot-tempered—was shot for his lack of standing in society. Lastly, another witness claimed that the officer fired with the intention of calming the situation, which resulted in Elkarif's accidental shooting. After false rumors circulated that he had died, several hundred Wadi Salib residents marched to Hadar HaCarmel, a predominantly Ashkenazi district, smashing shop windows and setting cars on fire. ==Ashkenazi-Mizrahi relations==

Discrimination against Mizrahim is believed to have been one of the main catalysts of the riot. This event marked the initial recognition of ethnic discrimination among Israeli Jews. Prior the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, the term “Mizrahim“ was not commonly used, but entered the Jewish lexicon as a term used broadly to refer to Jews of Middle Eastern and North African ancestry. The Mizrahim were viewed as passive recipients, whereas the Ashkenazim actively contributed to the creation of the Zionist vision of a Jewish-national community in Israel. The Wadi Salib riots still resonate in Israeli society as a symptom of the social malaise that led to clashes between Mizrahi and Ashkenazi Jews. ==Legacy==

In 1959, Jewish Israeli author Leah Goldberg's children's short story and poem Room for Rent was reprinted as a book reportedly due to its message on tolerance and as a reaction to the Wadi Salib Riots. In 1979, Amos Gitai produced a film on the subject—''Me'urot Wadi Salib'' ["the events of Wadi Salib"]. The Wadi Salib riots have been discussed in many scholarly articles. ==References==