Student activists arrested for tearing down 'illegal' Kinneret fences - Haaretz

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Last update - 06:02 02/10/2007

Student activists arrested for tearing down 'illegal' Kinneret fences

By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent

Five student activists were arrested on Sunday night by the Tiberias police, after they removed a fence from a private beach along Lake Kinneret.

Over the past two days, activists from Green Course - Students for the Environment have been conducting a public campaign along the beaches of Lake Kinneret, under the slogan "The Kinneret belongs to all of us, it is our right to enter for free."

Activists described the police's behavior as "strange."

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The organization claims the police are wasting their time on the activists, "instead of dealing with the true criminals, who are stealing the Kinneret from the public."

The five were released after the police decided not to seek to extend their remand.

On Sunday, activists entered a number of beaches, which they claimed were illegally closed.

"Lake Kinneret is being stolen from the public, more beaches every time," said Yaniv Steinmetz of Green Course. "We are warning that developers may change the coastline along more beaches, and will take more space from the public for real estate [interests] and private gain."

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) also complained about the state's management of Kinneret beaches. "Despite all the statements in recent years, in practice the lake's situation has remained as miserable as before: dozens of illegal fences are still preventing access to the beaches," said Nir Papai and Moshe Perlmutter of the SPNI.

"The trail encircling the Kinneret was approved by the cabinet, but it was not adopted or budgeted by any government ministry. All beaches charge for entry, and this high fee is still set arbitrarily and without any supervision," they explained.

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