Itamar Ben-Gvir
Itamar Ben-GvirTomer Neuberg/Flash 90

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir filed a personal lawsuit against the Chief of Police, Police Commander of the Jerusalem District and other officers, who acted with what he said was “a policy of apartheid during the gay pride parade, and arrested civilians only because they were Torah-observant or had right-wing views and were against the parade.”

The suit claims that “In July of 2016, the annual gay pride parade took place and, acting under an illegal policy manifesting great panic, police decided to detain dozens of youth with a religious appearance only because they were walking in the area of the parade or sought to protest against it in a legitimate and peaceful fashion.”

The suit is based on the testimonies of 7 plaintiffs who were detained and taken to the police station during the parade in Jerusalem last year, without reasonable basis for suspicions against them and against the law.

The suit asserts, among other things, that “Unfortunately for the plaintiffs, it appears that the police have not received information about the basic laws of Israel. The plaintiffs will assert that the Police Chief and Jerusalem District Commander, who instructed police to limit the freedoms of the plaintiffs and conduct searches on their person illegally, violated a legislated obligation when they ignored paragraphs 5 and 7 of ‘Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty.’”

The suit noted that “It’s clear that the police activity was undertaken within the context of the murder of Shira Banki a year before and this was a serious crime, but an entire camp cannot be included in the act of an individual, and a policy of detaining anyone wearing a kippa or skirt, or even detaining someone seeking to protest the parade in a legitimate way, is not only illegal but runs contrary to the principles of the state of Israel.”

The Police Chief and other officers being sued are called on to pay compensation amounting to 122 thousand shekels, in addition to legal expenses.

Attorney Ben-Gvir said this morning, “Police crossed red lines and employed racist policy. For this we are demanding compensation. It interests me to see whether all those knights of human rights and democracy will take a stand against the policy of silencing and persecution at the gay pride parades against those who don’t support the parade or whose only sin is that they are wearing a kippa.”