"Our Children's Blood is not Up For Grabs," the protestors will cry out this Tuesday. This, in light of the many serious head and other injuries inflicted by the security forces upon the youths who came to protest the demolition of houses in Amona.
The several incidents of sexual harassment of high school girls will also be protested, including a case of severe molestation (reported by the B'Sheva weekly this past Friday) that was stopped by a boy who hit one of the two offenders with their own club.
"Ehud Olmert did not order Yassam policemen to molest a girl," wrote Ariel Kahane in Thursday's edition of the B'Sheva weekly, "nor did [Public Security Minister] Gideon Ezra detail exactly how to strike and curse and abuse the youths... But what they and the other commanders spread liberally was an unambiguous 'commander's spirit.'"
Kahane quoted a series of combative statements made on the eve of the Amona events by Olmert and the heads of the police and army. "You have clubs, and you have helmets. You'll know what to do," said IDF Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh shortly beforehand.
Michal Raz, a nurse living in Amona, said she saw and clearly heard a commander briefing about 60 helmeted policemen and saying, "Your mission is to open as many girls' heads as you can." Another resident met his friend, a Yassam policeman, who said that he and his colleagues had received orders to "smash you, to break hands and legs."
It is precisely this spirit that may very well be investigated by the Knesset commission of inquiry that was voted upon last week, according to Knesset House Committee Chairman Daniel Ben-Lulu (Likud).
Ben-Lulu has scheduled a session to get the inquiry rolling for tomorrow, when the Knesset holds its festive birthday session. (The Knesset was founded on Tu B'Shvat of 1949.)
Ben-Lulu told Arutz-7 today, "I want to work quickly, as we only have [a short time] in which to work." The mandate for the parliamentary commission of inquiry lasts only until the next Knesset is sworn in, on April 17. If the commission's findings are not submitted by then, they will have no validity - unless the next Knesset votes to extend the mandate.
Ben-Lulu said he hopes to present to the Knesset a list of the committee members by tomorrow afternoon. "In addition, we have to determine what precisely will be investigated," he said, "although it could be that the members will decide this. I personally feel - and it could be that the other MKs will feel differently - that what should be investigated is not the police nor the soldiers, but rather the political echelon that gave the orders."
MK Yitzchak Levy (National Union) told Arutz-7 that, given the tight schedule and the upcoming elections, there is little chance that the inquiry will get off the ground. He is not disheartened, however: "The fact that it was approved is a good start, and hopefully the next Knesset will continue its work. By then, more evidence against the police will have been collected, and in general, we will continue to push this issue..."
In any event, the Knesset inquiry will have only symbolic value. The educators' demonstration demanding a more powerful commission of inquiry is to be held Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM, outside National Police Headquarters in Jerusalem (near Ammunition Hill).
The promotional literature states, "We will stand en mass - heads of yeshivot and ulpanot, school principals, rabbis, educators and teachers - outside police headquarters and demand an official commission of inquiry to investigate the police brutality in Amona and the grave damage done to our youth."
Asked about the Knesset's parliamentary investigative committee voted on by the Knesset last week, one of the organizers said,
"That one has no teeth and no authority at all. What we are demanding is something like the Ohr Commission that investigated the deaths of 13 Arabs in Wadi Ara at the beginning of the Oslo War. It is appointed by the government and the Supreme Court, and its recommendations for indictments are generally accepted."
The promotional literature for the rally further states:
"For the future of the State of Israel, and for every citizen in Israel - we must stop the police brutality before it leads to catastrophe.. Even youths who wear yarmulkes and girls with skirts have civil rights."
The several incidents of sexual harassment of high school girls will also be protested, including a case of severe molestation (reported by the B'Sheva weekly this past Friday) that was stopped by a boy who hit one of the two offenders with their own club.
"Ehud Olmert did not order Yassam policemen to molest a girl," wrote Ariel Kahane in Thursday's edition of the B'Sheva weekly, "nor did [Public Security Minister] Gideon Ezra detail exactly how to strike and curse and abuse the youths... But what they and the other commanders spread liberally was an unambiguous 'commander's spirit.'"
Kahane quoted a series of combative statements made on the eve of the Amona events by Olmert and the heads of the police and army. "You have clubs, and you have helmets. You'll know what to do," said IDF Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh shortly beforehand.
Michal Raz, a nurse living in Amona, said she saw and clearly heard a commander briefing about 60 helmeted policemen and saying, "Your mission is to open as many girls' heads as you can." Another resident met his friend, a Yassam policeman, who said that he and his colleagues had received orders to "smash you, to break hands and legs."
It is precisely this spirit that may very well be investigated by the Knesset commission of inquiry that was voted upon last week, according to Knesset House Committee Chairman Daniel Ben-Lulu (Likud).
Ben-Lulu has scheduled a session to get the inquiry rolling for tomorrow, when the Knesset holds its festive birthday session. (The Knesset was founded on Tu B'Shvat of 1949.)
Ben-Lulu told Arutz-7 today, "I want to work quickly, as we only have [a short time] in which to work." The mandate for the parliamentary commission of inquiry lasts only until the next Knesset is sworn in, on April 17. If the commission's findings are not submitted by then, they will have no validity - unless the next Knesset votes to extend the mandate.
Ben-Lulu said he hopes to present to the Knesset a list of the committee members by tomorrow afternoon. "In addition, we have to determine what precisely will be investigated," he said, "although it could be that the members will decide this. I personally feel - and it could be that the other MKs will feel differently - that what should be investigated is not the police nor the soldiers, but rather the political echelon that gave the orders."
MK Yitzchak Levy (National Union) told Arutz-7 that, given the tight schedule and the upcoming elections, there is little chance that the inquiry will get off the ground. He is not disheartened, however: "The fact that it was approved is a good start, and hopefully the next Knesset will continue its work. By then, more evidence against the police will have been collected, and in general, we will continue to push this issue..."
In any event, the Knesset inquiry will have only symbolic value. The educators' demonstration demanding a more powerful commission of inquiry is to be held Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM, outside National Police Headquarters in Jerusalem (near Ammunition Hill).
The promotional literature states, "We will stand en mass - heads of yeshivot and ulpanot, school principals, rabbis, educators and teachers - outside police headquarters and demand an official commission of inquiry to investigate the police brutality in Amona and the grave damage done to our youth."
Asked about the Knesset's parliamentary investigative committee voted on by the Knesset last week, one of the organizers said,
"That one has no teeth and no authority at all. What we are demanding is something like the Ohr Commission that investigated the deaths of 13 Arabs in Wadi Ara at the beginning of the Oslo War. It is appointed by the government and the Supreme Court, and its recommendations for indictments are generally accepted."
The promotional literature for the rally further states:
"For the future of the State of Israel, and for every citizen in Israel - we must stop the police brutality before it leads to catastrophe.. Even youths who wear yarmulkes and girls with skirts have civil rights."