by Lurker
For those who have been paying attention, the last few weeks have seen a draconian crackdown on the civil rights of Jewish dissidents by the Olmert government. Some examples:
· People have been arrested and interrogated by the police for putting up anti-Bush and anti-Olmert posters.
· People have been arrested and detained by the police for distributing literature to the foreign press.
· There are seven children, all girls between the ages of 13 to 15, who have been imprisoned for three weeks now, after being arrested for their presence in an unauthorized hilltop community. (One child was released this afternoon.) According to Dr. Yitzchak Kadman of Israel's National Child Welfare Council and others, they are being subjected to criminal abuse.
The Israeli media has had little to say about all these outrages.
Today, the crackdown has reached the blogosphere:
According to this post (see also here), a blogger (Reb. Nati) was brought in today by the Israeli police, and interrogated by the Shabak (!), apparently – according to the questions he was asked – for the crime of having expressed anti-government opinions on his blog.
If we are silent, the evil is guaranteed to continue growing. Today, it was Reb. Nati; tomorrow it can be any one of us.
Every blogger in the JBlogosphere ought to publicize and condemn this immediately. This should have absolutely nothing to do with whether one is "right-wing" or "left-wing", "religious" or "secular". Everybody who values freedom and democracy should speak out. And kol haKavod to DovBear for having already done so.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
For those who have been paying attention, the last few weeks have seen a draconian crackdown on the civil rights of Jewish dissidents by the Olmert government. Some examples:
· People have been arrested and interrogated by the police for putting up anti-Bush and anti-Olmert posters.
· People have been arrested and detained by the police for distributing literature to the foreign press.
· There are seven children, all girls between the ages of 13 to 15, who have been imprisoned for three weeks now, after being arrested for their presence in an unauthorized hilltop community. (One child was released this afternoon.) According to Dr. Yitzchak Kadman of Israel's National Child Welfare Council and others, they are being subjected to criminal abuse.
The Israeli media has had little to say about all these outrages.
Today, the crackdown has reached the blogosphere:
According to this post (see also here), a blogger (Reb. Nati) was brought in today by the Israeli police, and interrogated by the Shabak (!), apparently – according to the questions he was asked – for the crime of having expressed anti-government opinions on his blog.
If we are silent, the evil is guaranteed to continue growing. Today, it was Reb. Nati; tomorrow it can be any one of us.
Every blogger in the JBlogosphere ought to publicize and condemn this immediately. This should have absolutely nothing to do with whether one is "right-wing" or "left-wing", "religious" or "secular". Everybody who values freedom and democracy should speak out. And kol haKavod to DovBear for having already done so.
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד
Lurker,
ReplyDeleteThe government is also busy arresting protesters in Sderot who are tired of being hit by rockets from Gaza.
I've discussed Olmert's attmept to turn Israel into Duloc here and here.
It was only a matter of time. When 250,000 demonstrators didn't stop the vote in favour of Oslo, when 50,000 demonstrator in Kefar Maimon were treated like some sort of illegal rebellion and thousands others were violent beaten on the streets and highways by "the forces of law and order", it was only a matter of time. The tragedy is, the more the public realizes that legitimate politic dissent is neither permitted nor does it have any effect, the more violent the response will be from both sides. When 8% of the people support a government that 72% do not agree with, you have a classic case of tyranny of a minority. Especially in a people who believes and has some understanding of what democracy really means, it is only a matter of time before the cracks begin to show and the flood of violent protest wash away the "pretenders to democracy" that have controlled our society and politic system for all too long.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to your emphasis that there are seven CHILDREN being held by the police, it begs the question what parent in their right mind allows (or, Gd forbid, encourages!) their CHILD to participate in illegal and potentially dangerous activities.
ReplyDeleteanonymous, I responded to this on my blog. Who are you to decide what is 'right' for kids to be doing? These kids know the consequences, and are putting their hope for justice above their physical comfort. What have you done lately? I would keep my judgemental armchair comments to a minimum.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, Israeli rap groups do videos with naked women in them.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to Americanization where freedom is only freedom to tick someone else off and principles are for stupid backwoods hicks and realpolitik is all about maximizing what you want without regards to any high lofty concepts you fraudulently use to get your way.
Note: commenter does not disapprove of naked women or rap videos in any given language per se, but merely points out that priorities are so far out of whack the unusual is normal and the normal is considered politically heretical.
Excuse me!
ReplyDeleteThe 7 children were standing on a hilltop. The army decided earlier that morning that the area was a "closed military zone" (not that anyone standing there knew that).
The police then arrested them for trespassing.
They are in jail for 3 weeks because they refuse to identify themselves and play along with the political persecution of non-violent opponents of this government's policies.
The place they are in danger in, is not on the hilltop, but in the Israeli prison. And not from fellow inmates, but from the treatment they have gotten from the police.
Treatment by the police that includes being stripped naked for strip searches with male policemen in the room, physical abuse, sleep deprivation, and other illegal tactics.
And remember these are 14 year old girls being treated this way.
Reb Nati, of all people? Very strange.
ReplyDeleteThe girls who were jailed by the government are too young to carry identity cards. And they weren't "demonstrating," just walking on the roads of Eretz Yisrael. They were just at the Wrong Place, Wrong Time.
Please, jameel and lurker, link to this:
ReplyDeletehttp://mevaseretzion.blogspot.com/2008/01/democracy-hah.html
Police intimidation can really rattle your nerves.. its always freaked me out.. up to the point I have pretty much kept my mouth shut now...
ReplyDeleteI will speak out.. but I watch what I say.
I got stopped by 3 undercover cops the other night while walking in kiryat arba.. the least I say, the better I can figure out what the heck they want with me NOW..
Its very scary to get stopped / arrested and trying to determine what the hell you wrote that they are after you for.
Thank g-d I dont know jameel's indentity, so even if they torture me I cant help em ;)
Blogged it
ReplyDelete