ACRI to Attorney General: Order the Police to Intervene in Riots Before They Turn Violent

Mr. Yehuda Weinstein
Attorney General
Ministry of Justice
Jerusalem
 

Dear Sir,
 

Re: Police management of harassment and incitement against Arabs

1. We respectfully request that you instruct the police to intervene to prevent groups of rioters from sowing terror and undermining the autonomy and free movement of Arabs in Israel.
    

   Pardes Hana 2014. The Big Compound. Approximately 50 testosterone fuelled men wearing ‘Kahane Lives’ shirts and waving their muscular arms are shouting “Death to Arabs”, “[MK Haneen] Zoabi is a Whore”… all this is terrifying. They stop at the entrance to the McDonalds. Their shouts seep inside. The Arab employees are terrified. My children are frightened. One is crying. Another is hiding under the table. There is an atmosphere of violence that I’ve never encountered before. A man and a women (who is wearing a veil) are afraid to leave the complex. They are standing next to their car and they know that if they pass by the exit that the inflammatory group is blocking then it will not end well. One of the workers from a sushi restaurant ran up to the couple and told them not to go. To wait and sit here. If she would just lower her veil then they could get out. A police car drove behind them. We asked the police why they weren’t arresting the group and they answered that they didn’t have sufficient manpower.
   (Orit Or – Kahane Lives in Pardes Hana, 05.07.2014 – Facebook)

 

2. Shockingly, the testimony above is not an isolated incident. In the last week we have been witness to a considerable number of cases where groups of thugs have congregated in areas where Arabs are known to work or live, and where they have begun to terrorize them through steady cries of “Death to Arabs” and other similar slogans that constitute hate speech and incitement to racism. These instances are often a prelude to violent behaviour and physical attacks on Arabs, or those who look like Arabs in the eyes of the rioters. This phenomenon occurred during the last week in Jerusalem, Nazareth Illit, the commercial center of Pardes Hana, Iron Junction and other places.

 

3. The declared aim of these actions is to sow fear and terror among Arabs and remove them from public spaces. There are other inevitable consequences as well: Arabs who work or pass by these groups are forced to flee or hide our of fear of the rioters and they are afraid of showing their faces or exposing themselves as Arabs. In some cases, the passion of the rioters has lead to physical assaults. According to testimonies we have received and photographs that have been published in the media and on social networks, police forces have trailed behind groups of thugs and have only seen fit to intervene once the rioters engage in serious physical assaults. At this point the police have attempted to separate the rioters from their victims – but have not performed any actions beyond that.

 

4. Our position on the right to free speech is well known, and we usually turn to you when the police fail in their duty to protect protesters and ensure their right to free speech, even when they are expressing dangerous, irritating or vulgar sentiments that are loathed by the public (HCJ 399/85 Kahane v. The Managing Committee of the Israel Broadcast Authority, Judgment May 255(3), 279). Moreover, even in cases where calls are made during a protest that could be construed as incitement to violence or racism, this would still not be enough to justify the dispersion of the demonstration.

 

5. However, the type of events that we described above, even if some of them began as demonstrations, do not constitute mere public offensiveness, disturbing the peace or public humiliation. These cases include rioters who are casting their menacing shadow over a minority group that lives in the area and who are deprived of their free choice and free movement because of illegal threats. A supermarket worker and passing bystander can not help but feel a clear and present danger to their lives and safety because they are Arabs (or look like Arabs) and are forced to stay away from their places of work, from shopping centers and from public streets.

 

6. In these situations, it is the role of the police to prevent the formation of a threatening atmosphere before the riots descend into actual physical assaults by which point it may be too late and the police may be unable to protect the victims.

 

7. We find it hard to imagine that in the case that a group of Arab thugs were patrolling a city where Jews live and work (such as Jaffa), and were shouting out “Death to Jews”, that the police would quietly follow behind them so long as they did not physically attack any Jews. This contrasting behaviour in the case of rioting Arabs creates the impression of police support for these groups and for this reason alone it is necessary to avoid it.

 

8. We therefore request that you instruct the police to intervene in cases of the type described above: to prevent rioters from sowing fear among Arabs and excluding them from public spaces.

Yours Respectfully,
 

Avner Pinchuk, Adv.
 

Copied:
MK Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Minister of Public Security
Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino, Chief of israel Police