Her parents were notified last night that she would be brought to the District Court in Jerusalem this morning at 10:30, before Justice Noam Solberg. The case had been running until now in the lower-level Magistrates Court.
Tirtzah's next scheduled court date, as of yesterday, was several weeks from now, well after the Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah holidays. Until then, she was to have remained in prison - for having fought with Arab olive-pickers.
Justice Solberg ruled today that the girl must be immediately freed from jail - but the prosecution asked for 24 hours in which to appeal the decision. Shmuel Medad, head of the Honenu civil rights organization, predicted that it was possible the request would be withdrawn shortly afterwards, and within an hour, he was proved right.
The judge said that even were Tirtzah to be convicted of the crime of which she was originally arrested for - pouring out an Arab bucket of olives - she would have sat in prison for less time than she has already been there.
Tirtzah refused to sign any papers in connection with the case, saying she does not recognize a Jewish court system that does not operate according to Jewish Law.
Tirtzah's mothe, who was present at the court hearing, told Arutz-7 afterwards, "The prosecutor, in a last-ditch attempt to save face for the Prosecution, gave a whole lecture saying that she had to be punished for not recognizing the court system. It just shows that she was in prison for two and a half months all because she has different opinions than they do!"
An impromptu welcome-home party will be held at Tirtzah's home in Elon Moreh, with many of her friends who visited and spoke to her by phone in prison over the past weeks.
Nadia Matar, co-founder of Women in Green, wrote an article on Arutz-7's Hebrew website last week, calling for faxes to be sent to the Commission of Public Complaints against Judges. Matar explained, "We must complain that Justice Ori Ben-Dor acted unlawfully by not speeding up the legal proceeding in the case, and by allowing a 15-year-old girl to rot in prison for four months until the next scheduled court session."
Even the prosecutor in the case said, at a recent session, that a four-month hiatus before the next session was too long for a 15-year-old girl, but the judge said, "I'm not interested."
Tirtzah's next scheduled court date, as of yesterday, was several weeks from now, well after the Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah holidays. Until then, she was to have remained in prison - for having fought with Arab olive-pickers.
Justice Solberg ruled today that the girl must be immediately freed from jail - but the prosecution asked for 24 hours in which to appeal the decision. Shmuel Medad, head of the Honenu civil rights organization, predicted that it was possible the request would be withdrawn shortly afterwards, and within an hour, he was proved right.
The judge said that even were Tirtzah to be convicted of the crime of which she was originally arrested for - pouring out an Arab bucket of olives - she would have sat in prison for less time than she has already been there.
Tirtzah refused to sign any papers in connection with the case, saying she does not recognize a Jewish court system that does not operate according to Jewish Law.
Tirtzah's mothe, who was present at the court hearing, told Arutz-7 afterwards, "The prosecutor, in a last-ditch attempt to save face for the Prosecution, gave a whole lecture saying that she had to be punished for not recognizing the court system. It just shows that she was in prison for two and a half months all because she has different opinions than they do!"
An impromptu welcome-home party will be held at Tirtzah's home in Elon Moreh, with many of her friends who visited and spoke to her by phone in prison over the past weeks.
Nadia Matar, co-founder of Women in Green, wrote an article on Arutz-7's Hebrew website last week, calling for faxes to be sent to the Commission of Public Complaints against Judges. Matar explained, "We must complain that Justice Ori Ben-Dor acted unlawfully by not speeding up the legal proceeding in the case, and by allowing a 15-year-old girl to rot in prison for four months until the next scheduled court session."
Even the prosecutor in the case said, at a recent session, that a four-month hiatus before the next session was too long for a 15-year-old girl, but the judge said, "I'm not interested."