Jerusalem is starting to resemble Tehran
After participating in Sheikh Jarrah protest, I realized police use force even when things are orderly.
By Yossi Sarid Tags: Israel news East JerusalemAfter I heard the version of the police I concluded that the police and we, "the anarchists," were at two different demonstrations. For more than three hours we stood at the outskirts of Sheikh Jarrah - not a stone was thrown, not an arm raised, not a worshiper attacked, not a settler's home broken into. But for the police's disproportionate use of force and its false arrests, as a means of punishment and score-settling, one could say the demonstration was calm and orderly.
The coarsest slogan to be seen was "Fascism shall not pass," so familiar from hundreds of previous protests, and so ineffective: Fascism has clearly passed through many, many obstacles and roadblocks.
Another sign had the great honor of being tossed into a police van together with the person holding it: "Jews and Arabs don't want to be enemies." It will be submitted to the judge as evidence corroborating the anarchistic character of the entire demonstration. Indeed, in such a delicate and explosive place as Jerusalem it's best not to wave such subversive slogans, which disturb the peace.
In my long years of demonstrating I have never seen a protest so restrained, so not in need of a permit according to any rational interpretation of the law. Not every police officer - yea, not even every brigadier general - is authorized to declare it illegal. If the police views Friday's demonstration as a criminal act then the democratic right to demonstrate has been destroyed and Jerusalem begins resembling Tehran. Already it is not entirely clear whether what we have is the Israel Police or the Yisrael Beiteinu Police.
Since leaving active political life I have not attended demonstrations despite repeated requests; after all, there is no shortage of reasons to demonstrate in these parts. I told myself - I've paid my protesting dues, time to make way for the next generation. But Nitzan Horowitz and Ilan Ghilon and Shelly Yachimovich and Daniel Ben Simon are social-welfare-oriented MKs, and the removal of Palestinian families from their homes is not a social-welfare issue.
This time I could not refuse. All citizens, not just public figures, have a duty to resist. And so, on Friday afternoon the retired demonstrators came and filled the little square. The struggle in Sheikh Jarrah isn't over, it's just beginning. More Palestinian families are slated for transfer, and one cannot trust this government, the mayor of Jerusalem or even the city's judges to do the right thing.
When the judges rule in favor of the settlers the latter stop mocking them and celebrate the confirmation of their position; but when they rule against them, they blow them a giant raspberry. Months ago the High Court of Justice ordered the demolition of Beit Yonatan, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, and it is as if it never happened. It's only when they agree with the decision that they follow it.
The cabinet ministers may be unaware that in their folly they are affirming the Palestinian right of return de facto. If Palestinians who have been in their homes since 1948 can be driven out and replaced with Jewish families on the grounds of ownership from time immemorial, then Nasser Gawi can return to his home in Sarafind (Tzrifin), using the same argument. Now Gawi sits in a tent with his large family next to the home in Sheikh Jarrah they were thrown out of. As a two-time refugee he watches the settlers in the rooms that still hold the smell of his family's means - and Sarafind calls to him.
He is not alone: The Arabs of Jerusalem, too, would be glad to return to their homes in the West Jerusalem neighborhoods of Talbieh, Bak'a and Katamon. And don't tell us, prime minister and your cabinet colleagues, that it is not you who are making this dangerous journey from Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem to Sheikh Munis, in Ramat Aviv, but rather Irwin Moskowitz and his wife Cherna.
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Protests in Sheikh Jarrah on Friday. |
| Photo by: (Reuters) |
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I read somewhere that the settlers moving in Sheikh Jarrah were not Israeli nationals but came from the USA or Europe. I wondered whether Haaretz could check?
leaders of israel, didn't you know that, because peace isn't in their dictionary, if only yossi was, peace and properity would flourish and all could live in harmony, thats all i and many like you here want, an israel living alongside arabs in peace. highest regards. viper.
כול הכבוד, Yossi! Truer words have never been spoken! It is a sad testimony, indeed, to the current Israeli leadership's failure to resolve existing problems equitably when we have to observe this regression to the dark ages instead of an affirmation and adherence to the democratic principles upon which the State was built!
"BTW, how many of civilized, secular Israeli citizens will stay should Israel choose other part and become exclusive, racist theocracy?" OK, you tell me. How many have stayed?
Anyone who claims to know Judaism would know that the correct translation is "You shall not kidnap". How can one covet ones' own property?
Israel is paving own way to destruction, and so called supporters in USA supply tools. Why I am saying it? Look at situation in former Yugoslavia. There was a war, ethnic cleansing, etc. But, EU put sanitary cordon around and voila; Serb refugees are now coming back to Croatia, nationalist policies are discredited and all what is left are lost two decades. If Israel don't correct own policies, in couple of decades EU will cut all economic relations. By that time, two state solution will be impossible, and main request will be removal of etno-religious clauses from Israeli legislation. Therefore Law of Return will allow return of expelled Arabs and all people who will live in Greater Israel will have equal voting rights. Only silver lining is that Palestinians are far more civilized then citizens of most Muslim countries. BTW, how many of civilized, secular Israeli citizens will stay should Israel choose other part and become exclusive, racist theocracy?
If "Jews and Arabs don't want to be enemies" is subversive, just imagine how subversive "there's more than one way to be Jewish" can be. Women praying at a remote corner of the Western Wall with Tallit and reading the Torah. Israeli Basijjis nabbed the leader of this group, which could be accused as "sponsored by the international arrogance", -like the WUPJ, or the IRAC- took her finger-prints and interrogated her. Next come the beatings of women who don't have long enough sleeves, or men who don't have large enough kipas. Rabbi Rabinovich runs his private ranch of exclusive ultra-orthodoxy called the Kotel, with the Israeli government's policing it.
I believe that Police in Israel think they are above the law. It is a shame that my tax money funds these lunatics. I am a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem and I have many Israeli friends. If only Israelis themselves knew the kind of maniacs (so called police) they fund, I am sure it would be a different story. The Police do not represent the Israeli nation and it is a shame that residents of Jerusalem and the foreign protesters only get to see this side of Israel!
Who are these people who claim to be Jewish yet ignore G-d's basic laws, specifically those that teach: 'You shall not steal. 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.' How can we be a light unto nations when we ourselves have allowed our own greed to so obscure the light.
this sort of police action has been going on against the haredim each time they protest for several decades, and non of your libs says a word. The police version is duly published in the media and several innocent bystanders receive criminal records. When the police talk about violence, it is usually theirs, and no one else's. In the case of the haredi community, though, because of its cohesive nature, and because of the recent rise of a huge group of disenfranchised sefardi youth, certain elements are taking matters into their own hands and using protests as an excuse to riot.
....different Middle East, and a very, very different world of ours. Needless to say, that it would be a much more peaceful, friendly Middle East, and a much more peaceful, friendly world. (Same can of course be said, if Sari Nusseibeh would have the saying in Gaza....)
...for awhile, the police have been beating and arresting non-violent activists all over Israel. Sheikh Jarrah is just one place where standing next to an Arab is grounds for the Yassam to do a snatch and grab. So yes, for you, a Jew, Jerusalem is looking a bit like Tehran these days. You should consider how distorted this view is, particularly the title of your article. A few months ago in Tehran, Iranians were chanting "This is Palestine" as they were being beaten and arrested in the streets - like Arabs at the hands of Jews. Now you come to a realization about what everyone else in the world knows (fascism is coming to pass) and you point the finger at the perceived Iranian enemy for an analogy? This is a priceless capture of the sort of vision that led us to where we are today. Thank you for being shocked, though.
where have your eyes been jossi, police behaved the same way in amona, gush katif, several other places when displacing jewish people
What about all the peaceful right wing demonstrations that have been met with police brutality over the past 10 years ? Where were you when that was going on ?
ethnic cleansing is being perpetrated by people who have experienced the horror of discrimination themselves. Thank, Yossi, for raining your voice and letting the world know that many Jews are opposed to this filthy discrimination policy in the occupied territories.
A person has to wonder who is it, behind the scenes, using the settlers so efficiently? Lack of leadership in Israel does not entirely explain the power settlers are given to damage Israeli interests. Some outside group is enabling them?
Police hate demonstrators and protesters. This is true everywhere. It was routine for a while to have someone at the weekly fence protest hit in the head by an IDF fired gas canister. Still, Israel is no worse on average than other places that have a lot of protests and demonstrations.
land and houses of the Palestinians. I hope it is not the majority because if it is, it will destroy the future's recognition of the Jews' great achievements in the arts, sciences, and philanthropic activities.