The Honenu organization has sharply criticized Israel Police’s arrest of two minors in the early hours of Thursday morning, ostensibly for hanging posters in Jerusalem, although this in itself is not an offence.
The minors have already been in detention for many hours, with a senior police official apparently having given the order to hold them until they are brought to court.
The posters being hung by the two minors contained only legally permissible material, protesting Thursday’s planned Pride Parade in Jerusalem organized by the LGBT community. Among the slogans printed on the posters are: “Father and Mother are not numbers,” (referring to the decisions of several government ministries to replace “father” and “mother” with “parent 1” and “parent 2” on official documents); “My dear brothers – this is a deviation”; “Pride Parade in Jerusalem – For Shame”; “When you come to appear before Me, who requested this of you, to trample My courts?” (Isaiah 1:12)
Protesting the arrest and extended detention of the minors, Honenu said in a statement: “This is a persecutory arrest which tramples on the rights of minors who did nothing more than dare to hang posters announcing a legitimate protest – here, in the only democracy in the Middle East. This arrest should worry every single family and all parents in this country.”
Attorney Menashe Yado of Honenu added that, “The police should immediately release the minors, and permit them and the entire public to express their legal and legitimate protest against this march. The Honenu organization will continue to provide legal defense for anyone whose rights are trampled on in the course of their protest against the march.”