IDF recording license plates of Israeli anti-fence protesters
Document lists vehicle registration numbers of Leftists in effort to forbid their entry into West Bank.
By Amira Hass Tags: separation wall Israel news IDFThe Israel Defense Forces says it is using information on Israelis who demonstrate against the separation fence in a bid to deny them entry at nearby checkpoints. Israelis and others demonstrate every Friday at the villages of Bil'in and Na'alin.
A document was presented to a number of left-wing activists during the last three demonstrations. The activists were forbidden from crossing the Rantis checkpoint on their way to the two villages.
In the document entitled "Data of vehicles used by left-wing Israeli activists and anarchists to reach demonstrations in Na'alin and Bil'in," registration numbers of 11 vehicles are listed.
The activists assume that the details were sent to the IDF by police who were present at recent demonstrations.
At the top of the document is an internal army phone number. It also appears that the IDF is observing the routes the activists take to reach the villages.
Activists told Haaretz that they cannot identify all the vehicles in the document; this may be because the information was collected during a demonstration as far back as December against the siege of the Gaza Strip.
On Friday morning, five activists in a white Subaru sedan hoping to cross at the Rantis checkpoint were stopped by a member of the Border Police. He was holding an IDF document containing a list of vehicles banned from reaching the territories. The order was signed by an officer named Aviv Reshef.
The white Subaru belongs to Shai Pollack, an activist against the fence who was not in the vehicle at the time. The vehicle's registration number topped the list in the document.
Another vehicle whose number was also on the list was not prevented from entering the territories.
One of the passengers in the Subaru told Haaretz that "the soldier asked whether we belong to the anarcho-mobile."
The activist said he did not know how the army learned that this was the term used by his colleagues in the car.
"Perhaps they are listening in on our phone calls, looking into our e-mails, or they have a snitch," he told Haaretz. "We do not know and do not bother ourselves about these things. We are not an underground organization and our activities are open, but the army has recently been investing a great deal of intelligence effort in preventing us from demonstrating."
Commenting on his vehicle being listed on the document, Pollack said that "I was not surprised that the army is taking yet another step against us, but it's a small step compared to the oppression that is used against Palestinian activists."
A week earlier at the Rantis checkpoint, Shai Gorsky was prevented from passing through with his car, which was also on an IDF list. Gorsky said the list was sending a message to the new protesters and the youth that join in the demonstrations that "they will be made criminals before they even get to there."
During a demonstration three weeks ago, one of the activists noticed a man dressed in civilian clothes collecting information on vehicles at Levinsky Park in Tel Aviv, where activists meet for demonstrations. Activists say the police took down people's ID numbers.
Police told Hagai Matar from the newspaper Ha'ir that "this is routine police work for Tel Aviv District officers."
An hour later, the activists whose IDs were listed were prevented from crossing at the Rantis checkpoint.
Attorney Dan Yakir, the legal counselor for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, told Haaretz that "the problem begins with the flawed attitude of the IDF, which considers demonstrations in the West Bank unlawful. Hence these questionable legal measures. If there is no suspicion that a violation is expected, there is no cause to collect information or pass it on to the IDF."
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vhardman.. the idea of democracy so to speak is allow people to express themselve freely. whether it is religiously based or secular based. i have yet to hear to one demonostrations where it was politically made. what is your opinion of extermist jews who charged and marched in jericho.. did their number plates were recorded also... no instead IDF joined them in the demo to protect them.. isn't true that israel is always complaining that palestinians are too violent and they don't protest peacefully. how did that work out for arabs or even israelis who are being persecuted. dude israel is making for its proponents to make any rational arguments.
First Israel attacked unarmed Palestinians and now they are turning on their own people. Only armed Goons (settlers) can travel freely in the territories. Can't have decent Israelis who believe in human rights affecting Israel's "security."
"write to the times and guardian on britains role in the last 100 years to condone these outrages" Irrelevant to this Talkback. Stick to the topic if you want to be taken seriously...
"They always involve property destruction, assault, stones, bottles, every kind of violence" Yes, the IDF behave disgracefully during these peaceful demonstrations....
Without open and free orderly disagreements Israel loses its heart and soul. Be careful.
The whole situation in Bil'in is unlawful. Israel should withdraw to the 1967 borders taking its Wall with it. The people of Bil'in should be left to live as they wish and to entertain whomsoever they choose. The current situation has nothing to do with 'security' and everything to do with colonisation.
because it "considers demonstrations in the West Bank unlawful" and will always try to prevent them.
Sir Oswald Mosley, hence, his defence now of its semitic version.
and round them up. That's the next step in this beacon of democracy. They just van't hold it all together anymore so they have to become more and more draconian.
Yep, a shining light of democracy in the ME. Good, as Israel marches toward becoming an out and out police state, let the protesters give them a taste of their own medicine. Apologists for occupation are desperately trying to revamp the image of Israel abroad. Let the protesters gather at the point where they are forbidden entry and let them hold a massive aprotest against the police state and let the world see how these agents of the police state will react. Signs of a sick South Africa all over again.
Peaceful demonstrations are not stopped. The demonstrations are anything but peaceful. They are all over YouTube. See for yourself. They always involve property destruction, assault, stones, bottles, every kind of violence. Keeping the peace is the job of the adults in civilized society.
reality is probably much worse for most Palestinians. If you do not stand for the Palestinians, you should at least stand for freedom of expression. If you do not stand for those defending freedom of expression, which precisely include standing for people who do not share your opinion, do not be surprised if no-one's left to stand for you. This country may change very fast and the camp of the "traitors" may extend soon.
On the one hand, the West Bank is Israel, (where demonstrations are still allowed although one supposes that car number-plates are checked anyway) and on the other hand, in West Bank is subtracted from Israel when it suits and demonstrations are unlawful, whereas it's lawful for settlers to uproot olive trees, vandalize property and run wild with weapons, which it isn't in Israel. What a loony Through the Looking-Glass, Wild 'n Woolly West nut-house we live in. Le monde à l'envers? Deux poids et deux mesures? Whatever, no-one but a neo-patriot of the Baruch Marzel kind could invent the insanity of it. The law and the army have enslaved us to the delirious fantasies of the National Front. Israel's National Front.
ari, dont confuse lies and coverage with real positions and real people !
ulterior political motives ! what precisely are these protests which are certainly not peaceful ? is it to allow suicide bombers free reign to kill ? loonies confuse anarchy with legitimate democratic objectives !
Why not record car plates of settlers living in illegal settlements all over the West bank? Anyone who's against peace and gives Israel a bad image abroad should be carefully monitored.
Do you deny the right of peaceful protest? I know you fear it but do you deny their DEMOCRATIC right to protest? Of course you do as you disagree with their position.
Israel can't have Jews demonstrating against the occupation. Especially Mizrahim. Same thing with Tali Fahima. Israeli Jews can't be allowed to think of the Palestinians as humans. Only Jews have the right to property in the West Bank. The inevitable disaster must not be allowed to be stopped by thinking people. It is all or nothing for Zionism. nothing it is.
99.5% of m.east is occupied by arab semites, 0.5% by jewish semites. stop talking bs.
fringe leftists homegrown or foreign..... need to understand that the state has a duty to protect soldiers, public property and tax payer monies. they can go to the courts if they want. foreign lefties should be arrested and thrown out....just like egypt did to galloway.
There is something badly wrong in Israel when people are oppressed so they can't demonstrate.
It's no secret that Israel is, at the moment, seriously cracking down on the anti-fence protest movement. Many Palestinians are already in jail for what's neatly dubbed subversive activities and if this trend holds up, leftwingers will be soon actively proscecuted as well ( or intimidated into stopping their protest) Which ofcourse begs the question, is Israel a true democracy or not? I think I know the answer
to the acceptance of arab apartheid and lack of human rights in the muslim dictatorships ! before posting in haaretz write to the times and guardian on britains role in the last 100 years to condone these outrages .
talkbackers here talk like democracy is sacred yet rule of law is not. The right to demonstrate peacefullly is a good principle but it is not the right to riot - which is violent and dangerous. Go to Egypt or Jordan or Syria and do the same thing. Try Turkey, you would be thrown out at the nearest border without being alllowed back to pack, just your passport and credit cards (done and seen) That you can stay here and come week after week is democracy. That you are not in prison _like you would be in some Arab countries, is because of democracy. Democracy itself is not a license to riot or violence and for those who call upon the name democracy and forget rule of law and all that encompasses democracy are at best hypocrites. You can't have only part democracy. democracy is the most abused and used word by those who abuse it.
and come by taxi. If anything can stop the foreigners coming and making this a violent demo each week (which they do, inviting bravado for their cause, cameras, teenage Palestinians, a mass of people ensue with the ensuing hesteria) it would be welcome. Let it be a small peaceful demonstration and nothing will happen, I guess then it would no longer be newsworthy, that probably is the problem.
no!!!!!!!!!!! they are all members of the loony left society a world scourge in the last 100 years .
hey maybe a good idea to start doing this to rightwing activists as well. Fair's fair right? Or is this only allowed for Arabs and Leftwingers?
Israel has to black list all these people and to put them in jail for ever .Too much democracy will kill Israel. Good thing Israel you are on the way to reason! God bless you and all Israelis
Welcome to "the only democracy in the middle east"
Since when have pro-peace activists become criminals in Israel? Is there a police of thought now? This is not acceptable, engaging in peaceful protests is not against the law.
When the label of an apartheid state risks sticking it is very logical to campaign for the redefinition of democracy. In fact that is what the entire Israeli PR campaign of the past decade has been all about. The danger of course is than in the redefinition process Israel is redefining all of the Arab dictatorships as new democracies. This is all starting to look like the alliance between an autocratic Israeli regime and that of the Arab states and Iran is slowly taking place behind the curtain. How else would one explain Israel's on-going de-facto work on behalf of Arab dictatorships.
When the label of an apartheid state risks sticking it is very logical to campaign for the redefinition of democracy. In fact that is what the entire Israeli PR campaign of the past decade has been all about. The danger of course is than in the redefinition process Israel is redefining all of the Arab dictatorships as new democracies. This is all starting to look like the alliance between an autocratic Israeli regime and that of the Arab states and Iran is slowly taking place behind the curtain. How else would one explain Israel's on-going de-facto work on behalf of Arab dictatorships.
Sad, sad, sad. Soon Israeli protesters against the trampling of freedoms and rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories will be muzzled, giving land-grabbing settlers even more of a free rein.
Dissent will not be tolerated. Welcome to the "new" Israel.
So the process enters its next phase. Facts of the occupation can no longer be covered up, so now intimidation and repression have to do the job. Where does this end?