Hevron activist Baruch Marzel has been banned from entering his home in Hevron for six full months, leaving his wife and nine children alone in the Tel Romeida neighborhood and forced to travel to Jerusalem if they wish to see him. His alleged crime? Pushing a policeman during the evacuation of the Gilad Farm last month.
The situation developed in a most curious manner. A photograph exists of Marzel pushing a policeman, but contains no hints of what happened only seconds before. Marzel fills in:
"When hundreds of soldiers and policemen came to the Gilad Farm, I helped calm down some of the verbal and physical clashes that developed between the sides - despite my objections to the evil evacuation plan. I was asked by army officers and policemen to help calm down the situation in the main building they wanted to destroy. At that point, I saw a special police officer hitting a youth very aggressively and violently."
Marzel recounted that the policeman refused his request to identify himself, and that a repetition of the request was greeted with violent pushing and shoving by other policemen:
"They forcibly took me out, but I came back in - and at that point, the cameras showed me pushing. A partial photo can turn the victim into the attacker. This is the triangle that works together: The press, judicial system, and the police."
After he was arrested almost a month afterwards, the Prosecution claimed that he was "dangerous to policemen" and must remain in jail until the end of the proceedings against him. Marzel, whose elderly parents were anxiously awaiting his presence at a family wedding, decided that he had no choice but to agree to a "compromise" in which he would be released from jail at once but would be forbidden to enter Hevron for six months. The fact that he runs many kindness and charity organizations in Hevron - including the Guests Home, the Charity Fund dealing with hundreds of poor families in Yesha, Talmud Torah Zilberman, and Yad L'Achayot for young women rescued from Arab hands - also did not sway the judge from her strict ruling.
Friends of Marzel say that he technically cannot appeal the decision, and are therefore turning their efforts to Justice Minister Meir Shetreet (fax 972-2-628-5438) and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau (fax 972-2-581-1832), both of whom are running for the Knesset in the upcoming Likud primaries.
Hevron activist Noam Federman, too, is being prevented from returning to his home, despite Supreme Court criticism of an order to incarcerate him in the face of no evidence. Details in yesterday's edition; send email to "Sunday@IsraelNationalNews.com."
The situation developed in a most curious manner. A photograph exists of Marzel pushing a policeman, but contains no hints of what happened only seconds before. Marzel fills in:
"When hundreds of soldiers and policemen came to the Gilad Farm, I helped calm down some of the verbal and physical clashes that developed between the sides - despite my objections to the evil evacuation plan. I was asked by army officers and policemen to help calm down the situation in the main building they wanted to destroy. At that point, I saw a special police officer hitting a youth very aggressively and violently."
Marzel recounted that the policeman refused his request to identify himself, and that a repetition of the request was greeted with violent pushing and shoving by other policemen:
"They forcibly took me out, but I came back in - and at that point, the cameras showed me pushing. A partial photo can turn the victim into the attacker. This is the triangle that works together: The press, judicial system, and the police."
After he was arrested almost a month afterwards, the Prosecution claimed that he was "dangerous to policemen" and must remain in jail until the end of the proceedings against him. Marzel, whose elderly parents were anxiously awaiting his presence at a family wedding, decided that he had no choice but to agree to a "compromise" in which he would be released from jail at once but would be forbidden to enter Hevron for six months. The fact that he runs many kindness and charity organizations in Hevron - including the Guests Home, the Charity Fund dealing with hundreds of poor families in Yesha, Talmud Torah Zilberman, and Yad L'Achayot for young women rescued from Arab hands - also did not sway the judge from her strict ruling.
Friends of Marzel say that he technically cannot appeal the decision, and are therefore turning their efforts to Justice Minister Meir Shetreet (fax 972-2-628-5438) and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau (fax 972-2-581-1832), both of whom are running for the Knesset in the upcoming Likud primaries.
Hevron activist Noam Federman, too, is being prevented from returning to his home, despite Supreme Court criticism of an order to incarcerate him in the face of no evidence. Details in yesterday's edition; send email to "Sunday@IsraelNationalNews.com."