Popular Protests – Sensitivity and “the Skunk”
Israel today chose to highlight the massive difference in how it treats Arabs and Jews. This difference shows up in a thousand different ways, but it was most notable today as Israel is wracked by protests. Israel's response to protests is 100% opposite depending on the source of the protests. When Israel responds to Jewish protesters, it looks like this:
Police chief to officers: Act sensitively with activists
police commissioner Insp.-Gen. Yochanan Danino ordered Israel Police district commanders on Thursday to act with sensitivity and tolerance towards the growing number of activists calling for social change throughout the country.
This is true whether the protesters are on the right or left:
As separate protests around the country against the annual Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem (rightist protest), soaring housing prices (leftist protest), and for health care reform (neither) gained momentum,
Meanwhile, as Palestinians who have lived their entire lives under Israeli authority, just the same as Israelis, plan protests, Israeli media brags:
Israel's September weapons
The Defense Ministry has invested more than NIS 75 million (roughly $22 million) in purchasing non-lethal weapons to disperse mass protests in preparation for possible September riots.
The article delights in Israel’s new anti-protester weaponry (describing their “star” weapons):
- "Federal" rifles mounted on vehicles
- at least 17 vehicles with water spraying systems
- electroshock taser guns to be used against protestors standing close to security forces,
- as well as a large amount of gas grenades, helmets and protective gear.
- “But the "star" acquisition is "the skunk" – a strong-scented substance which causes nausea and vomiting.”
It is hard to imagine a more divergent set of reactions. In one case, the Israeli government meets protests (including protests by the right-wing which frequently uses violence) with a lecture on the need for “sensitivity.” In another case, where Palestinians plan non-violent protests (PM Abbas says “We are now inspired by the protests of the Arab Spring, all of which cry out 'peaceful', 'peaceful',"), Israel lays out tens of millions of dollars in new weapons.
Housing : who is paid and who pays
Responding to the massive protests for affordable housing in Israel, the Israeli government was forced to take some action, offering to subsidize student housing (in what many protesters describe as a bribe):
The plan, prepared by Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz calls for lowering the cost of land controlled by Israel Lands Administration by tens of percentage points and expediting permit processes, with the goal of spurring the rapid construction of more than 10,000 two-bedroom and three-bedroom housing units, mainly, but not only, in the center of the country.
The housing units that will be built will be geared toward young couples, large families, army veterans, students and families buying their first home.
Half of the proposed 10,000 housing units to be constructed would be for sale, and half would be for long-term rental. The rent would be controlled by the state or the local authority.
However, when Arabs fight for their housing, the result is somewhat different. The Bedouin of the Negev, ostensibly full Israeli citizens, have long been trying to maintain their homes. These homes have been repeatedly demolished by Israeli governmental authorities, in a process over many years. See just one of the many past DKos diaries on this subject: NEW! Bedouin village destroyed by Israel. More to come?
Israel this week announced it is not just destroying the home of Bedouin Arabs, but suing the Bedouin for the cost of the destruction:
The state filed an unprecedented suit against 34 Negev Bedouin in Be'er Sheva Magistrate's Court on Tuesday, seeking NIS 1.8 million in damages for the expense repeatedly incurred in evicting the defendants from state land and demolishing their homes.
It is utterly unimaginable that Israel would treat its Jewish citizens with such vicious contempt. This type of insult-to-injury policy is reserved solely for Arabs (whether “citizens” or not)
The Most Vulnerable - Jailing of Children
DKos’ Unspeakable had a heart-wrenching diary Monday,
Separate Law, Separate Justice, on a new
report by B'Tselem analyzing the Israeli practice of jailing Palestinian children. I encourage you to read both the diary and the report in full, but some key quotes are as follows:
The report reveals that between 2005 and 2010, a total of 835 Palestinians between the ages of 12 and 18 were arrested and tried for stone throwing, and all but one were convicted.
The main point from the report is the separate systems of justice for Israel proper and Israelis in the occupied territories on the one hand, and Palestinians living under occupation on the other.
For minors in Israel, incarceration is supposed to be a last resort, and minors under the age of 14 are not to supposed to be incarcerated at all. In fact, even if a minor is guilty of a crime, a court is not required to convict him/her and can instead order rehabilitative treatment, which is stated to be the preferred method. These laws are largely in compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the accompanying Beijing Rules (PDF).
However, military law, which is the only law Israel applies to Palestinians living under its occupation, is not.
With a few exceptions, minors are treated like adults. The Order Regarding Adjudication of Young Offenders was enacted in 1967. It divides minors into three age groups: “child” – under age 12; “youth” – from age 12 to 14; “young adult” – from age 14 to 16. A person over age 16 is deemed an adult, except for an amendment to the order pursuant to which parents can be obligated to post bail and pay fines imposed on their 16 and 17-year-old children. The order prohibits imposing a prison sentence greater than six months on minors under age 14, limits imprisonment of minors aged 14-15 to a maximum of one year, unless the defendant committed serious offenses, and states that minors must be held separate from adults.
A separate "Military Youth Court" was created in 2009. It was meant for children under 16, but has in practice included cases involving 16 and 17 year olds.
Only "principle hearings" are held in this court; hearings on extension of detentions are held in the regular military court.
Interrogation
Before any interrogation or questioning, a medical officer checks to see if they have any health problems. One minor's condition was so bad, he was released and hospitalized the day after his arrest.
There are several stages to the interrogation process, which in four cases lasted more than a week (the longest being 53 days). The arrested minor is "questioned" several times before the official interrogation. As the questioning is unofficial, the Israeli occupation army maintains that there is no need for an attorney to be present or for the minor to be warned. Nevertheless, the answers provided during the questioning form the basis for the interrogation.
Under Israeli law, a parent is supposed to be present at the time of questioning/interrogation of a minor. However, under the occupation military law, this is not required. In fact, of the 50 interviewed not one was accompanied by a parent, although two were accompanied by a neighbor who requested to join the minor when they were detained.
B'Tselem discovered that after the interrogation process, almost no minor is ever released on bail. Israeli military law allows suspects (whether minor or adult) to be held for 8 days before they must appear before a judge. Israeli prosecutors always ask for the full time allotted and were granted on at least one occasion a detention period of 27 days for a 16 year old from al Khalil/Hebron. Israeli law requires that minors under 14 not be detained until sentencing and that detention be avoided if possible for those over 14.
Conclusion
In all of these areas, we see the massive difference in how the government of Israel treats Arabs versus how it treats Jews. These different treatments are not accidental. Rather, they are
necessary in order to maintain the Occupation. It is these actions, and a thousand more similar actions, that cause people to see the parallels between Israel’s treatment of Arabs and the old South African treatment of blacks. It is actions such as these that cause people to see the apartheid inherent in Israel’s policies.