Slippery Slope

A report published by a committee headed by Prof. Arnon Sofer and which was submitted to Minister of Interior Eli Yishai (Shas) concludes that the solution to the “infiltrator” question is a policy of ignoring the UN’s position in regards to the security situation in their countries of origin, transferring them to detention facilities in the south, and formulation of a strict policy in regards to NGOs trying to assist the asylum seekers. (Ynetnews)

(Hebrew – nrg)

According to the 2012 annual report on the state of human rights in Israel, compiled by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), new regulations were adopted in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem which significantly limit the right to protest, by requiring special permits in order to set up tents as well as for other protest actions.  In Tel-Aviv, the municipality acted in an unequal manner toward activists with different agendas.  In Jerusalem, a protest encampment set up by social activists was dismantled, while its occupants’ personal belongings were confiscated. (ACRI)

(Hebrew – ACRI)

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Israel Beytenu) leaked to Yedioth Aharonoth that the experts in his ministry recommended he initiate cooperation with Kurdish terrorist organization PKK and supply it with weaponry, and that he assist the Armenians and submit complaints against Turkey in U.N. institutions about human rights violations. Officials in the ministry said, on the other hand, that the recommendations were diametrically opposed to those in the “Liberman plan”. “There were various ideas,” a senior foreign ministry official said, “but the foreign ministry’s main recommendation to Lieberman following that discussion was to take steps to prevent a further escalation with Turkey.”

UN special envoy on human rights in the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, presented a report stating that Israel has killed 1,300 Palestinian children since 2000.

Unknown persons broke into the database of the human rights organization Yesh Din, which reports on and follows violations of the law and harming of Palestinians in the West Bank. Also, internal documents were stolen from the office of Adv. Michael Sfard, the organization’s legal counsel. Since there were no signs of break-in in the offices of Yesh Din or Sfard, the organization suspects right-wing organizations have infiltrated a “mole” into it. (Hebrew)

Human rights organizations claim that lately, the activity of the OZ unit – the enforcement unit of the Population and Immigration Authority – has escalated, and that there are mounting complaints by foreign workers against enforcers who used violence and threats against them. Inter alia, a work immigrant suffered from a strain in his hand due to the way he was handcuffed, and a female worker was struck at her stomach and was hospitalized as a result. The Ashkelon police refused to accept the complaint against the enforcers, saying that workers complaining are suspect of violence themselves. The manager of OZ, Yehuda Ben Ezra, said he was “taking great care there would be no violence activity in the unit, and I think it’s humane and sensitive. People who sneak across the border and stay illegally, that’s a felony. They’re spitting at the law, so [why] should be deal with whether the enforcer raised his fist or not?” (Hebrew)