Nationalist activist Baruch Marzel and the anti-settlement Peace Now group finally agree on something: keep High Court Justice Elyakim Rubenstein out of an official government ceremony at the Hevron Jewish cemetery for the 67 victims of the Arab pogrom in Hevron 80 years ago.
Marzel asked Hevron’s Jews “to prevent the disgrace of Justice Rubenstein in Hevron” and noted that he was on the court panel that ordered the expulsion of Jews from their homes in the city. The houses, located in the area of the Hevron Arab market, were the same buildings that Arabs confiscated in 1929 after the bloody slaughter that shocked the pre-state Jewish community under the British Mandate.
“Justice Rubenstein allowed members of the traitorous group Break the Silence to arrange inciting tours in Hevron, and during the expulsion from Gush Katif, he ordered the arrests of youth without any judicial justification,” Marzel reminded his followers.
Marzel’s arch-rival Peace Now group also opposed the visit, which is to take place Monday afternoon. “It is not legitimate that a justice of the High Court should take part in an event that is political," the group said.
Hevron’s Jewish leaders distributed flyers in the community Sunday night, appealing for them not to stir up trouble during the visit of Justice Rubenstein, who also was accompanied by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Information Minister Yuli Edelstein, both of the Likud.
Community leaders also held talks with youth in an effort to calm them down.