Hope for free expression in Israel?
In an earlier post, I reported that police were attempting to
place two Jewish teenagers under arrest for putting up posters protesting the upcoming visit of Pope Francis I. Early this afternoon, a Jerusalem judge threw out the arrests.
Jerusalem Magistrates' Court Judge Shmuel Herbst rejected early
Friday afternoon a request by police to place two youths under house
arrest for seven days, distance them from Jerusalem and slap them with a
security deposit after they were caught putting up posters hostile to
Pope Francis.
The posters said, among other things, that Christianity is an
“accursed” religion that is complicit in the murder of millions of Jews,
and that its leaders dream of “annihilating the Jewish state.” It
called on the “impure” pope to “get out of our holy land” and “return
the stolen vessels of the Temple.”
Police claimed this was incitement to racism but the judge rejected
this, determining that “theological arguments and disputes between
religions have existed from time immemorial and these arguments do not
constitute a danger to the public.”
The judge added that there is a “very weak” case to be made against
the sentence that says Christians dream of annihilating the Jewish
state, but that it does not constitute racism in any case.
He ruled that the youths are allowed to protest against the pope, but
determined that they may not come within 150 meters of him.
Meanwhile, the police continue to announce administrative detention orders against known activists whom they'd like to keep out of sight while the Pope is here.
Police on Friday announced ten more nationalist activists would have
restraining orders issued against them, bringing the total to 15 ahead
of Pope Francis's visit next Sunday and Monday.
"Yesterday the head of the Jerusalem district mentioned that there
would be a further 10," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP without giving details.
The detentions began Wednesday, when several Jewish youths were put under house arrest in a move justified by concerns they might carry out "provocative acts" during the pope's visit.
This is the Middle East's only 'democracy.' Obama could take lessons from us.
Labels: administrative detention, Barack Hussein Obama, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, incitement, Israel police, Jerusalem, Pope Francis I
Pope's visit to Israel has something to offend just about everyone
If you're a Jerusalemite, you might want to consider making a
schlissel challah for the Sabbath (a challah with a key inside it, traditionally made on the Sabbath after Passover as a sign of an easy time making a living during the upcoming year). The flag above is meant to depict just that.
That flag is all over Jerusalem because the Pope is going to be here Sunday and Monday. In a bid not to offend anyone, the Pope is managing to
offend everyone.
The
pope’s decision to fly straight to Bethlehem from Jordan would be a
symbolic lift to the Palestinians at any time. But its resonance is even
greater given his tremendous popularity, his focus on the downtrodden,
and his timing amid the recent
collapse of peace talks and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s
unity pact with the militant group Hamas.
Francis,
who said on Wednesday that his three-day visit was “purely a religious
trip,” is striving for balance, and so on Monday he plans to become the
first Vatican leader to lay a wreath on the grave of Theodor Herzl, the
founder of Zionism. Paying homage to a man who envisioned the Jewish
state has become standard for leaders visiting Israel, but the plan has
enraged some Palestinians, in another sign of the risks the pope faces
in this charged region.
At
each stop on the orchestrated itinerary, the Vatican’s focus — to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of a historic meeting of Catholic and
Orthodox patriarchs — could be overshadowed as all sides dissect
Francis’ every action. Already, his effort at ecumenical outreach,
traveling with a rabbi and an imam from his native Buenos Aires, has led
to criticism that he is not fully engaging local religious leaders.
...
The
Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that the Vatican’s
use of “State of Palestine” terminology with regard to the trip
reflected the United Nations General Assembly’s 2012 resolution that upgraded Palestine’s status, and that arriving in Bethlehem by helicopter made pragmatic sense.
Father
Lombardi said that the pope was starting his trip in Jordan partly
because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath, when a visit to Israel would be
awkward, and that a Mass in Manger Square, the place of Jesus’ birth,
was fitting for Sunday.
...
In
Bethlehem, the pope will meet President Mahmoud Abbas as a peer,
underscoring the Vatican’s support for the United Nations’ upgrade of
Palestine’s status; welcome banners in Manger Square show the two men
and a “State of Palestine” logo.
He
will also meet with families hand-picked to highlight the hardships
Palestinians face under Israeli occupation, and with children from
nearby refugee camps, though he will not enter the camps as predecessors
did.
The
diplomatic dance means that instead of traversing the half-dozen miles
between Bethlehem and the Mount of Olives by motorcade, the pope will
take a helicopter to Ben-Gurion International Airport for a presidential
welcome demanded by Israeli protocol, and then reboard for a flight to
Jerusalem.
In
Israel, which is trying to upgrade diplomatic relations with the
Vatican established two decades ago, the pope will take a whirlwind tour
on Monday, cramming into five hours visits to the Western Wall, Mount
Herzl and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, as well as meetings with
the president, prime minister, chief rabbis and Grand Mufti of
Jerusalem.
No terror victims will meet with the Pope.... We wouldn't want him to be offended by the prospect of what a 'state of Palestine' might mean for Israel's Jews. And no rightists will meet with him either. Several of the more prominent ones have been handed
administrative orders to keep away from the Pope. Two Jewish youths were arrested in Jerusalem on Friday for
posting signs against the Pope.
Two Jewish youths were arrested in Jerusalem on Friday morning for
posting notices against the pope, which featured sentiments such as
"impure, leave our Holy Land," and "return the stolen Temple tools," a
reference to the tools and treasures stolen from the Second Temple by Rome.
...
A police spokesperson who announced the arrest Friday cited
"intelligence information gathered by the Shabak (General Security
Services) testifying to the extreme right-wing activists' intentions to
disrupt the pope's visit planned for next week, and to take provocative
illegal actions to cause inter-religious tensions ahead of the visit."
"In other to foil these activities, administrative orders were given
to distance the extremist activists for a temporary period of four days,
in order to balance as much as possible security needs with harm to
individual rights," added the police.
Administrative orders are a relic of the British
Mandate-era legal system, allowing the detention or distancing of
individuals without any charges or due process, over suspicion they may
harm public order.
Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir addressed the recent spate of arrests,
commenting "the time has arrived to teach the police about freedom of
expression and democracy. The Jewish people are allowed to demonstrate
against the pope."
Kind of reminds you of the
college kids in the last post, doesn't it? The Pope can't hear any criticism. And you wonder where the kids get it....
And then, there are the
traffic jams that all Jerusalemites will face.
The police have posted signs on light poles fences and vehicles stating
that from 4 p.m. on Sunday till 1 p.m. on Monday, no vehicles will be
permitted to park on Hanassi or Radak streets, which intersect opposite
the residence of the president. Vehicles of violators of the ban will be
inspected for bombs and then towed to Liberty Bell Park.
...
There will be no English at the ceremony on Monday.
At the
request of the Vatican, there will be only two languages – Hebrew and
Italian, the president’s spokeswoman Ayelet Frish said.
I have yet to see a schedule of where the Pope will be on Monday, but the city is likely to be tied in knots. I'm escaping to Tel Aviv.
Labels: Abu Mazen, administrative detention, City of Jerusalem, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Pope Francis I, Second Temple, Shimon Peres
And they call themselves a 'human rights' organization
B'Tzelem is one of Israel's better known 'human rights' organizations. One of the things that they fight is 'administrative detention,' which is a remnant of the British Mandate that allows persons suspected of crimes to be held without trial for several months. In this video, you will see two interesting things about B'Tzelem.
First, you will see that B'tzelem managed to get the leader of the terror cell that carried out the Bat Yam bus bombing last month released from administrative detention just a few months ago.
And second, you will see that B'Tzelem only objects to administrative detention when 'Palestinians' are being detained. When Jews are detained - as has been happening regularly going back to the early protests against the 'peace process' in 1993-94 - B'Tzelem isn't interested.
Let's go to the videotape. Sorry Hebrew only.
Labels: administrative detention, B'Tzelem, human rights, human rights abuses, human rights activists, human rights NGO's, Palestinian terrorists
