At Tel Aviv's Dizengoff Circle, buzzing on a Saturday afternoon, around a dozen young people suddenly began to collapse slowly and theatrically to the ground, to the shock and confusion of Israelis out shopping or enjoying a coffee.
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"Did it scare you?", flash mob organizer Mohamed Jabarin asked those watching, and proceeded to explain the intention - to draw attention to a surge of shootings within Israel's Arab community and accuse police of failing to tackle the violence.
At least 24 Arab citizens of Israel have been shot dead this year, mostly by unknown assailants from within their towns and villages. The shootings, most often crime and gang-related, have become a defining issue for the 21% minority ahead of a March 23 national election.
The largest expression of the frustration and anger felt by the community has come through anti-violence protests by tens of thousands in Umm al-Fahm and other Arab towns.
But the flash mobs are an attempt to raise awareness of the shootings in the heart of Jewish Israeli towns.
Demonstrators accuse the police of turning a blind eye to the violence, which they say is a result of poverty and years of underinvestment in their minority communities.
