Dear Friends
Below please find the summary of yesterday’s vigil that ended with the
police brutally beating us up and arresting six participants. The
video footage clearly shows the police violence. At the end of the
summary you can click on different links to see the footage. Police
violence will not deter us. We will continue to hike, build and settle
in Erets Israel!
Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar
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Continuing to Hike in Eretz Israel!
February 3, 2011
1) Thank G-d, all those from the trip in Gush Etzion who were arrested
have been released. A great injustice was done them, by accusing them
of manslaughter, when they acted in self-defense – and thanks to them
the Arab rioters were unsuccessful in carrying out their plans.
2) Dozens of people participated in the protest vigil held yesterday
in front of the Magistrates’ Court, including hikers who come from
throughout Israel to participate in these hikes and take possession of
the land with their feet.
3) The speakers included Rabbi Yehudah Amihai, the head of the Torah
and Land Institute and the father of Ahikam, may G-d avenge him, after
whom and David Rubin, may G-d avenge him, these hikes are named; Rabbi
Ya’acov Medan, the head of the Har Etzion Yeshivah; Rabbi Mordechai
Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Tiferet Yaakov congregation in Kokhav
Yaakov; Boaz Haetzni; Dr. Nava Tavger; Alizah Said, the mother of
David Said, one of those arrested; Danny Halamish, former Prisoner of
Zion in Zion; Yisrael Bramson, member of the Kiryat Arba Local
Council; Zvi Kedar, a resident of Kfar Sabah who was one of the hikers
on Friday.
A letter to the Interior Minister by Knesset Members from the Eretz
Israel Lobby was read in which they urge the minister to indict the
Arab assailants, as was the letter by Shimon Kohen of Rehovot, another
of the hikers.
All of the speakers praised the hikes and called for their
continuation, the release of those arrested, and for bringing to trial
the Arab rioters.
4) After about two hours during which a peaceful vigil was held, a
group of police officers arrived, with a court order, claiming that
the protest was to be dispersed. When the organizers requested an
explanation about the puzzling order, and also attempted to photograph
him and the officers, the police began using force and acting
violently. Six were arrested, including two girls, two boys, an adult
resident of Gush Etzion, and Nadia Matar from Women in Green.
Participants who continued to protest were brutally attacked and
pushed, including Yehudit Katsover who was punched in the ribs and the
back. In the wake of the arrests, a letter of strong protest was sent
to the Minister of Internal Security.
5) In order to take full legal action against the unrestrained
policemen who so brutally attacked the protest participants, we are
collecting evidence. We ask all the participants in yesterday’s
protest to provide us, as quickly as possible, with all documentation:
video recordings, still photographs, written testimonies to what you
saw, and the like. We will not let this pass quietly.
6) We wish to thank all the protest participants who came. Once again,
we learned that support and public involvement bear fruit. We thank
Adv. Adi Kedar from the Honenu organization for immediately coming to
the assistance of those arrested.
————————————————————————————-
Leading Activist Violently Apprehended by Police at Protest
Arutz 7 video can be seen by clicking on:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142093
February 2, 2011
by Gil Ronen
(Israelnationalnews.com) The Israel Police recommended to a court
Wednesday that the three hikers who were arrested Friday for firing at
a group of Arab attackers be released. However, at the same time,
police arrested six protesters who were demonstrating in favor of the
hikers outside the court.
Arutz Sheva journalist Hezki Ezra reported that a violent scuffle
broke out between police and the demonstrators, one of whom was Nadia
Matar, Co-chair and Co-founder of the “Women in Green” Land of Israel
activist organization. Ezra himself was roughed up by a policeman, as
were other reporters.
A fourth member of the hiker group – a soldier in mandatory military
service – was released Tuesday. He, too, was suspected of opening fire
on the Arab assailants.
Honenu, an NGO that defends the rights of Jewish prisoners arrested
for alleged crimes of a nationalist nature, said that the hikers
should never have been arrested: “All of the people arrested are
without a criminal past and some have families,” it stated. “Although
there is no doubt that the group of hikers was attacked, the police
insisted upon interrogating the hikers on suspicion of murder, even
though the offense requires intent to kill, and although the police do
not have access to the body of the person allegedly killed, and
despite the lack of proof that the Arab allegedly killed was hit by
the hikers’ gunfire.”
‘Laws of Sodom’
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) called Wednesday morning for an
investigation of the “the elements who chose to arrest the victims and
not their murderous attackers. It is unacceptable that the Judea and
Samaria police have yet to arrest any of the Arab aggressors. This,
unfortunately, is a pattern of behavior taken from biblical Sodom, in
which the victims had to compensate their attackers.”
Nationalists gathered in protest Wednesday morning outside the
Jerusalem Magistrates’ Court at the Russian Compound, where the three
Jews who fired in self defense Friday were to be arraigned.
The protesting groups say they were standing up “for the elementary
right to self-defense – and to demand that those improperly detained
be freed immediately.”
The Jews reportedly opened fire at an Arab mob who had ambushed them
with live fire, firecrackers and rocks as they were hiking in the
Etzion Bloc in Judea. The hikers were part of a larger group of about
150 hikers. Arab sources later claimed that an Arab was killed but a
body has yet to be produced. Arab claims of deaths have proven to be
fabricated on numerous occasions in the past.
The hikers reported that Arab terrorists spotted them and began firing
upon the group and hurling rocks, explosive caps and firecrackers.
“Due to the presence of senior citizens, evacuation was so slow that
defensive measures were required,” Jewish activists said. “But when
army and police forces arrived, all hikers carrying weapons were
arrested, imprisoned and charged with homicide – before it was even
established that any of the attackers had been killed, before a dead
body was even produced, and before even a single Arab attacker or
onlooker had been interrogated.”
The hiking group was carrying on a tradition that began three years
ago, when two soldiers, David Rubin and Achikam Amichai, were murdered
by terrorists while hiking. Their friends swore to honor their
memories by continuing to hike in Judea and Samaria, in what are known
as the “David and Achikam hikes.” On a weekly basis, thousands of
participants from cities, towns and communities throughout Israel hike
through the paths, hills and ravines of the biblical heartland, guided
and protected by ex-soldiers who know the terrain and are described as
“responsible and cautious” by the organizers.
Jerusalem Post article on hikers and arrests at demonstration:
http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=206482
Arutz 7 Hebrew footage with video of Nadia Matar brutal arrest:
http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/214982
more footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBnVDFkRW9c
http://rotter.net/forum/scoops1/33882.shtml
http://rotter.net/forum/scoops1/33834.shtml