On 15 September\u00a02016, 17 Haredi Yeshiva students from Bet Shemesh arrived in Kiryat Gat, with the intention of holding a\u00a0silent protest outside\u00a0the house of the city’s Rabbi. The students were protesting against what they considered to be the Rabbi’s cooperation and support of the enlistment of Haredim into the army.<\/p>\n
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The protesters stood across the\u00a0road from the Rabbi’s house and\u00a0shouted and waved signs. They did not act violently or\u00a0try to\u00a0enter the\u00a0house. Police arrived at the scene and unlawfully dispersed the legal\u00a0demonstration. They detained and used excessive force against protesters, including pepper\u00a0spray, which was unjustified in the\u00a0circumstances.<\/p>\n
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ACRI Attorney Sharona Eliyahu-Chai petitioned the Chief of Police and\u00a0emphasised the profiling of protesters in this case: The harsh treatment towards them was not related to their actions, but instead was due to their identification as members of the Orthodox community. Members of the community had been involved in other similar incidents outside\u00a0the Rabbi’s house and were suspected of criminal offences. “Referring to all members of the Orthodox community as ‘one unit’ is discriminatory and is considered to be ethnic profiling – namely, a determination\u00a0that someone is dangerous because of their membership in a racial, ethnic, national or religious group, without any information or indication that connects them\u00a0personally and directly to\u00a0activities that endanger the public.”<\/p>\n
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ACRI has asked the Chief of Police\u00a0to examine the conduct of police involved in this protest,\u00a0to bring those responsible for the misuse of police powers to justice, and to revoke the measures taken against the demonstrators and against the minibus driver who drove them. ACRI has also requested that the Chief of Police\u00a0review the Kiryat Gat police station’s guidelines on dispersing demonstrations and to instruct the police to exercise \u00a0restraint during demonstrations, to preserve the fundamental rights of expression and protest and to maintain protesters’ rights to liberty and physical integrity.<\/p>\n
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Please click here<\/a> to read the petition in Hebrew.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 15 September\u00a02016, 17 Haredi Yeshiva students from Bet Shemesh arrived in Kiryat Gat, with the intention of holding a\u00a0silent … Read more