Kach member Itamar Ben-Gvir petitioned the Supreme Court today against a two-month old administrative order closing the organization's Jerusalem offices for six months. Kach was declared a terror organization seven years ago, but Ben-Gvir says that he and his friends don't deal in terror or violence. "It's clear that we do not commit terrorism," Ben-Gvir said today, "for if we do, why aren't we indicted and tried? We act according to the democratic principle of freedom of speech. We can say what we want, even if it angers someone... This method of closing our offices, while leaving PLO offices in Jerusalem open, is simply a disgrace for Israeli democracy."
The prosecution produced pamphlets and stickers of Kach that promote Baruch Goldstein and violence, but Atty. Naftali Wurtzberger said that though some of Kach positions are truly racist, "putting up posters and the like are not terrorist acts." He also said that the seven-year-old decision to outlaw Kach should be reconsidered under the new circumstances - just as the attitude towards the PLO was changed when circumstances were perceived to have changed.
Wurtzberger said that though Kach's opinions are not admirable, "they are still within the democratic discourse" - to which Supreme Court Justice Dorit Beinish replied, "That is exactly the question."
In possibly related news, Hevron activist and former Kach member Baruch Marzel was forcibly arrested this morning. He was wanted for interrogation regarding violence during the evacuation of the Gilad Farm. Marzel, who often arranges meals for Sabbath visitors to Hevron, is a long-time resident, with his wife and nine children, of a small caravan in the Admot Yeshai (Tel Romeida) neighborhood.
The prosecution produced pamphlets and stickers of Kach that promote Baruch Goldstein and violence, but Atty. Naftali Wurtzberger said that though some of Kach positions are truly racist, "putting up posters and the like are not terrorist acts." He also said that the seven-year-old decision to outlaw Kach should be reconsidered under the new circumstances - just as the attitude towards the PLO was changed when circumstances were perceived to have changed.
Wurtzberger said that though Kach's opinions are not admirable, "they are still within the democratic discourse" - to which Supreme Court Justice Dorit Beinish replied, "That is exactly the question."
In possibly related news, Hevron activist and former Kach member Baruch Marzel was forcibly arrested this morning. He was wanted for interrogation regarding violence during the evacuation of the Gilad Farm. Marzel, who often arranges meals for Sabbath visitors to Hevron, is a long-time resident, with his wife and nine children, of a small caravan in the Admot Yeshai (Tel Romeida) neighborhood.