On Sunday, the first day of the month of Nissan, my wife, my ten-year-old daughter and I to the Western Wall. We came from our home in the Galilee, Mitzpeh Netofa, and we intended to pray and to take part in the call to open the Temple Mount to Jews. And from there, my daughter and wife were to go on to the zoo and I, to my place of work.
When we arrived at the entry gate to the Wall, from the direction of the bazaar, a police inspector named Yigal Elmaliach stopped me and asked for my ID card. When I produced it, he informed me that I was not allowed to enter the Western Wall plaza. I asked him by what right he is limiting my freedom of movement and my right to pray at the remnant of our Temple. The honorable inspector claimed that there was an order forbidding entry to the Wall. I asked, "If that is so, then why are all the people around me allowed to enter?"
The answer was: "There is an order forbidding you to enter."
I was surprised. I didn't know I was important enough that there should be a special order forbidding me, personally, from going to the Wall; it was also unclear to me why.
But the honorable inspector, Yigal Elmaliach, simply lied; there was no such order. I simply look like a Jew - I have a beard, peyot (sidelocks) and a large kipah (skullcap). That is the only reason I was not allowed to go to the Wall.
My wife and I insisted on our rights to go in together, but the police officers who were stationed at the entrance simply physically blocked our way. I explained to them that they were acting contrary to a Basic Law and that they were forbidden to discriminate between me and any other citizen and take away my freedom of movement and prayer without a legal order.
At that point, I received a civics lesson from the police officer Sharon Dror. Sharon Dror is not a uniformed officer, but he is a civics teacher, and this is what he told me: "I am the sovereign here, and I will decide where you can and cannot go."
"The citizen is the sovereign in a democratic state and the police is his representative in enforcing the law," I tried to explain, but my words fell on deaf ears. Did someone say "police state"?
"You are detained," he announced, "and if you go in, I'll arrest you."
""No problem," I replied, "You can arrest me right now, or if necessary, I'll go through the entry gate and you can arrest me."
But Sharon - the sovereign - did not want to arrest and did not want to let me in; he just forcibly blocked me and, together with another officer named Yaakov Gelbgisser, even pushed me.
When the police officers saw that I was insisting on my rights and not backing down in the face of their ridiculous and illegal threats, three more policemen in civilian clothes arrived and informed me that I was being detained and that I had to accompany them.
I refused. I told them that if I am detained, then I am not required to accompany them: "Only if you arrest me am I required to come."
And so, one of them said, "Okay, you're under arrest."
We began a journey on foot to Kishleh (the main police station near the Jaffa Gate), three policemen in civilian clothes - Moshe Cohen, Dudu and Doron - and my wife, daughter and son, along with other good citizens who had seen the strange display and decided to join in. In the meantime, the media outlets that we had informed of the incident had arrived and interviewed my wife.
When we arrived at Kishleh, I found myself in an interrogation during which I was accused of attempting to go up to the Temple Mount through the Mughrabim Gate. Of course, I refused to cooperate with the interrogator, and to every question - from my phone number on - I replied that it was a political interrogation and a political detention. At the same time, from an adjacent room, I heard shouts of an interrogator at one of the detainees, "Sign already!" The shouts were extremely threatening and I worried that the interrogator, according to that style of work, would also hit the detainee. And in fact, after a short time, I heard shouts from another room, "Doctor! Doctor!" The shouts were of a young fellow whom I came to know only afterwards, Assaf Yaffin from Morag. This young man was beaten by police, who twisted his arms, and he was calling for help.
My wife and all the people who were standing outside of the police station saw through the gate how four policemen took Assaf out of the interrogation room, knocked him down to the ground, and stepped on and kicked him. Participating in this incident, apparently, was the duty officer, named "Ezer", who, according to Assaf, strangled and kicked him. My wife called for an ambulance, immediately. At Magen David Adom, it was claimed that the police was responsible, and according to the dispatcher, the police informed her that there was no one injured. My wife's upset voice convinced the dispatcher to send an ambulance. From the moment the policemen realized that Magen David Adom was involved, their attitude changed completely. All of a sudden, a police medic arrived and tried to look after Assaf, laying him down in the patrol room, where I was also being held. An officer arrived to ask how he was.
Assaf was evacuated to a hospital, unaccompanied. He was only detained, not arrested, the policemen explained. My son, who was waiting outside, accompanied him. After some tests, Assaf was released with a medical report that mandated five day's rest for him.
[Part 1 of 2]
When we arrived at the entry gate to the Wall, from the direction of the bazaar, a police inspector named Yigal Elmaliach stopped me and asked for my ID card. When I produced it, he informed me that I was not allowed to enter the Western Wall plaza. I asked him by what right he is limiting my freedom of movement and my right to pray at the remnant of our Temple. The honorable inspector claimed that there was an order forbidding entry to the Wall. I asked, "If that is so, then why are all the people around me allowed to enter?"
The answer was: "There is an order forbidding you to enter."
I was surprised. I didn't know I was important enough that there should be a special order forbidding me, personally, from going to the Wall; it was also unclear to me why.
But the honorable inspector, Yigal Elmaliach, simply lied; there was no such order. I simply look like a Jew - I have a beard, peyot (sidelocks) and a large kipah (skullcap). That is the only reason I was not allowed to go to the Wall.
My wife and I insisted on our rights to go in together, but the police officers who were stationed at the entrance simply physically blocked our way. I explained to them that they were acting contrary to a Basic Law and that they were forbidden to discriminate between me and any other citizen and take away my freedom of movement and prayer without a legal order.
At that point, I received a civics lesson from the police officer Sharon Dror. Sharon Dror is not a uniformed officer, but he is a civics teacher, and this is what he told me: "I am the sovereign here, and I will decide where you can and cannot go."
"The citizen is the sovereign in a democratic state and the police is his representative in enforcing the law," I tried to explain, but my words fell on deaf ears. Did someone say "police state"?
"You are detained," he announced, "and if you go in, I'll arrest you."
""No problem," I replied, "You can arrest me right now, or if necessary, I'll go through the entry gate and you can arrest me."
But Sharon - the sovereign - did not want to arrest and did not want to let me in; he just forcibly blocked me and, together with another officer named Yaakov Gelbgisser, even pushed me.
When the police officers saw that I was insisting on my rights and not backing down in the face of their ridiculous and illegal threats, three more policemen in civilian clothes arrived and informed me that I was being detained and that I had to accompany them.
I refused. I told them that if I am detained, then I am not required to accompany them: "Only if you arrest me am I required to come."
And so, one of them said, "Okay, you're under arrest."
We began a journey on foot to Kishleh (the main police station near the Jaffa Gate), three policemen in civilian clothes - Moshe Cohen, Dudu and Doron - and my wife, daughter and son, along with other good citizens who had seen the strange display and decided to join in. In the meantime, the media outlets that we had informed of the incident had arrived and interviewed my wife.
When we arrived at Kishleh, I found myself in an interrogation during which I was accused of attempting to go up to the Temple Mount through the Mughrabim Gate. Of course, I refused to cooperate with the interrogator, and to every question - from my phone number on - I replied that it was a political interrogation and a political detention. At the same time, from an adjacent room, I heard shouts of an interrogator at one of the detainees, "Sign already!" The shouts were extremely threatening and I worried that the interrogator, according to that style of work, would also hit the detainee. And in fact, after a short time, I heard shouts from another room, "Doctor! Doctor!" The shouts were of a young fellow whom I came to know only afterwards, Assaf Yaffin from Morag. This young man was beaten by police, who twisted his arms, and he was calling for help.
My wife and all the people who were standing outside of the police station saw through the gate how four policemen took Assaf out of the interrogation room, knocked him down to the ground, and stepped on and kicked him. Participating in this incident, apparently, was the duty officer, named "Ezer", who, according to Assaf, strangled and kicked him. My wife called for an ambulance, immediately. At Magen David Adom, it was claimed that the police was responsible, and according to the dispatcher, the police informed her that there was no one injured. My wife's upset voice convinced the dispatcher to send an ambulance. From the moment the policemen realized that Magen David Adom was involved, their attitude changed completely. All of a sudden, a police medic arrived and tried to look after Assaf, laying him down in the patrol room, where I was also being held. An officer arrived to ask how he was.
Assaf was evacuated to a hospital, unaccompanied. He was only detained, not arrested, the policemen explained. My son, who was waiting outside, accompanied him. After some tests, Assaf was released with a medical report that mandated five day's rest for him.
[Part 1 of 2]