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2. Again: Judge Criticizes Police by Hillel Fendel Jerusalem Judge Malka Aviv ordered Kiryat Arba resident Zev Braude released from custody, criticizing the police and State Prosecution for blindly following the media’s version of events in which he shot at Arabs in self-defense. Braude was arrested last week during the violent eviction of Jews from Peace House in Hevron.  He was charged with shooting at two Arabs, but the Jerusalem Magistrates Court judge does not accept this official version.  “I have no doubt that the suspect poses no threat to his surroundings,” Judge Aviv stated.  She did restrict him from entering Hevron, however. Judge Aviv said, “The police blindly follow the press’ version of events,” and sharply criticized the authorities for having taken no action against violent Arabs who nearly lynched Braude during the eviction in Hevron. The judge wrote that after she issued the ruling, a policeman entered her office and asked that Braude's release be pushed off for three hours.  The judge refused.  Soon after, a Prosecution representative entered her office and said, “It cannot be that a case such as this one, with such large echoes in the local and international media, should not be reconsidered.”  She turned him down as well. Judge Aviv noted that the police are apparently “held captive by the media-created conception, and it is difficult for the police to back off from it.” After his release, Braude was charged with causing injury with grievous intent. The other Jew involved in the incident, Rabbi Gabi Bibi, who fired in the air to scare away the attackers, was released earlier in the week. In response to the charges, the Families of the Jewish Prisoners – some of whom have been in prison for years without vacations for planning to attack Arabs – stated, “We have received another proof of the irrelevant and political considerations that guide the Government of Israel in its treatment of Jewish prisoners. On the one hand, it rewards terrorism by pardoning 45 wanted terrorists, and plans to release another 230 prisoners as a goodwill gesture – while on the other hand, Jews who defend themselves like Braude continue to rot in jail without basic rights.” The B’Tselem human rights organization has disseminated a film purporting to show Braude and another Jew shooting the Arabs – but the Hevron-based Yesha Civil Rights organization says it can prove that the film was doctored and does not show the original Arab attack on the Jews. Comment on this story 3. Forgery in 2007 Labor Primaries by Maayana Miskin The National Fraud Investigations Unit announced Wednesday that it had found evidence of forgery that allegedly took place during the Labor primaries in 2007. Police believe signatures on voter registries were forged in several polling places. Police will pass the material they have gathered to state prosecutors, who will decide whether or not to indict any of the suspects named in the police report. Defense Minister Ehud Barak beat Minister Ami Ayalon by a small margin in the 2007 primaries. Ayalon and his supporters said on the actual day of the vote that they suspected voting fraud, particularly in Arab and Druze cities. Some Labor activists reported seeing envelopes in voting boxes before polling stations were opened. Ayalon conceded to Barak and said he would not pursue a repeat of the vote, but expressed determination to pursue his suspicions, saying, “Labor is my home, and my home will be clean.” Party official Justice Amnon Strashnov pushed for an investigation. The investigation began several weeks after the 2007 primaries and concluded this week. Police suspect poll workers of being involved in the forgeries. Forgeries took place at eight polling stations in the north and two in the Negev, they said. During the primaries, Ayalon said he suspected voting irregularities in Shfaram, Tira, Jaljulya and Yafiye. The Labor party has faced similar problems in the past. In 2001, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said he suspected voter fraud in three Druze towns after losing to rival candidate Avraham Burg by a small margin. A court ruled in Ben-Eliezer's favor and ordered a repeat of the vote, which Ben-Eliezer won. Comment on this story 4. Israel Pardons 45 Terrorists by Maayana Miskin Israel has agreed to pardon 45 Fatah terrorists on the IDF's “wanted” list, according to reports in the Palestinian Authority-based news agency Ma'an and newspaper Al-Hayyat. The terrorists are affiliated with the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade offshoot of Fatah. Their pardon was a “goodwill gesture” from Israel in honor of the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Adha. The pardoned terrorists will now be allowed to move freely throughout PA-controlled areas in Judea and Samaria. According to Ma'an, most of the pardoned terrorists were required to turn in a personal weapon and promise not to commit further acts of terrorism. Israel has pardoned several dozen terrorists in recent months in similar “goodwill” gestures to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Several of the terrorists have been caught carrying out terrorist attacks since their pardon. Many of the pardoned terrorists have been required to serve three months in a PA prison, after which they have been recruited by PA forces. Last summer, 13 pardoned terrorists took up arms, vowed to carry out further attacks against Israelis, and created a stronghold in Shechem; they were ousted by the IDF after PA forces failed to capture them. Last week, terrorists were caught as they attempted to bomb the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. The suspects were arrested near their target after a massive manhunt. Two pardoned Fatah terrorists took part in planning the attack. The government is planning other “goodwill gestures” to the PA as well: the army will remove checkpoints and roadblocks near the city of Shechem, and 230 terrorists will be released. The terrorist release was meant to take place in time for Eid ul-Adha, but was delayed, reportedly so that Abbas could be present as the prisoners returned to PA-controlled territory. Abbas denied involvement in the delay. Comment on this story 5. Stats Prove: Police Against Jews by Hillel Fendel For the first time, police statistics are shown to confirm official law enforcement discrimination against the Jews of Judea and Samaria. The 29-page report shows a clear pattern, backed up by columns of statistics, of police discrimination against Jews living in Judea and Samaria. The report was prepared by the Civil Rights Organization of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), headed by Orit Strook of Hevron. While throughout Israel the number of police-opened criminal files, with no complainant, runs at 14% of the cases, in the Jewish towns of Yesha it is 25% - 80% more. Treating Jewish Residents as Gangsters The statistics indicate that the Jews of Yesha are treated as a “community of crime,” in which specially-formulated regulations are implemented. These include:using the Shabak (Shin Bet, General Security Service) as an intelligence body, instead of standard police detectives usage of restraining and distancing ordersmassive and forceful police presence relatively many arrests; unlike elsewhere in the country, the police are obligated to arrest any Jew who causes any harm to a person or property police-opened files in a wholesale and initiated manner special detective teams extra-light criteria in determining when to hand down indictments “Practically speaking,” the report concludes, “the purpose of formulating the special regulations [against the residents of Yes, which have no parallel anywhere else in Israel, was to use the law enforcement institutions in order to enable the government to oppress political opponents.” One chapter deals with the “Yesha Law Enforcement Team”. Though this body was officially dismantled in 1998, by order of the Attorney General, in fact it continues to operate up to this very day. The report reviews the ways in which this team works: Re-opening closed criminal files, exerting pressure on courts, compiling a ‘black list’ of suspected and accused Jews, issuing administrative distancing orders, and the like. This body operates in violation of Knesset decisions, while on the other hand, it is susceptible to influence by various left-wing groups. The special regulations formulated by the Attorney General in 1999 regarding Arabs of Judea and Samaria state that any charges that do not deal with “heavy security crimes” must be dropped for “lack of public interest,” that charges must not be leveled against “public figures,” and that persons under 16 years of age must not be incarcerated over night. Twice as Many Indictments, Half as Many Convictions Another statistic shows that while the rate of indictments per criminal case averages 14% across the country, in the Judea and Samaria District it was no less than 38% - more than twice the national average. Even more significant, however, is the rate of convictions: While across the country, 97% of those indicted on criminal files are convicted, in Judea and Samaria it is only 54%. The report therefore concludes that the judicial system ends up doing the “filtering out” work that the police are supposed to do, “and this is a grave blow at the basic civil rights of suspects in Judea and Samaria, who, because of the selective law enforcement policies, find themselves in the status of ‘accused’ who are forced to defend themselves in court, with all that that implies, in order to regain their status of presumed innocence.” More Police Resources in Yesha Not only do the police dedicate extra resources for the purpose of opening files against Yesha residents, the report states, but this also comes at the expense of the basic democratic rule of equality before the law. Left-Wing Left Alone Another chapter shows that while the Jews of Yesha are over-enforced, their Arab neighbors, as well as anarchists and left-wing outsiders who demonstrate or otherwise act in their areas, enjoy below-average law enforcement. For instance, during the first 8.5 months of 2008, out of a total of 400 “disturbing the peace” files opened, only 36 of them were against left-wing activists – exactly 9%. This, despite the regular, weekly, violent left-wing protests held in Bil’in and Na'alin against IDF forces. In addition, in 2007, only 30 left-wing figures were arrested. Out of this total of 66 arrests in ’07-’08, only two (3%) ended in indictments – as opposed to the figure of 38% against Jews cited above. The report states that no distancing orders have ever been issued against the violent left-wing protestors, even though this would affect only their right to protest. On the other hand, five such orders have been handed down this year against nationalists, distancing them from their families, homes, source of income, and day-to-day life. Six Times More Zeal Against Jews Another telling statistic shows that in 73% of the cases opened against Jews in Yesha, the police were able to locate the suspects and verify the charges against them – while this was true for only 13% of the cases opened against Arabs. This percentage, the report states, is the most indicative of the amount and quality of resources used to enforce the law against the various sectors. More Police Per Jew Another telling statistic: The number of police officers in the Judea and Samaria District is one for every 241 Jewish residents, while in Um el Fahm it is one for every 1,200 residents. In the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Akko (Acre), the number is one for every 839 residents, and one for every 1,045 in Netanya. “This hurts not only the residents of Judea and Samaria, but all Israelis, who receive low-quality police service. One can only imagine how a more equitable distribution of police forces would help reduce crime in Netanya, for instance.” The report cites several judicial rulings that expressed criticism of the police for pressing charges only against the Jews involved in an incident, while letting the Arabs involved go free. Unanswered Questions The report sums up as follows: “The reality, as reflected in special rules, data and the above charts, is one of disproportionate and unreasonable over-enforcement of law on one sector, tremendous allocation of police resources, trampling of residents’ civil rights, and lack of protection from attacks. Even worse, it shows that government bodies and law enforcement tools are used to repress a particular population sector that is labeled as having a particular political or ideological bent… The piercing question is: What is the legal, constitutional and moral justification for this? In addition, why is this true picture kept hidden from the public? Why has an opposite picture, one that has nothing to do with reality, been presented to the public over the course of many years?” Comment on this story