3Months Jail 4 Critical Mass
Thread started by
sexy at 12.29.10 - 3:29 am
Of all the criminals involved with the 2008 Gaza war, an Israeli leftist will be going to jail for riding his bike against the war in Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv Magistrates court judge Yitzhak Yitzhak convicted Israeli leftist Jonathan Pollak of illegal assembly for his participation in a January 2008 Critical Mass ride against the siege on Gaza and then sentenced him to three months imprisonment that will begin on January 11th, 2011.
............continue readingIsraeli activist sentenced to 3 months in prison for protesting Gaza blockade
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What a wonderful ally in the middle east we have there. Oh, how fair and just they are...
Velocipede12.29.10 - 12:07 pm
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Here are some transcripts of the court proceedings in the Israeli paper Ha'Aretz:
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/how-much-public-influence-does-a-pro-palestinian-israeli-have-1.333946
liquidpremium responding to a
comment by Velocipede
12.29.10 - 12:31 pm
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this case aside, there are actually many examples where Israel is far more liberal in the US.
gays in the military - never a problem
no death penalty
you can't lose your right to vote even if you commit murder.
liquidpremium responding to a
comment by tortuga_veloce
12.29.10 - 7:32 pm
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no death penalty
I would think many Palestinians would disagree
sexy responding to a
comment by liquidpremium
12.29.10 - 7:41 pm
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I'm not defending the treatment of the Palestinians. All I'm saying is that no Israeli court will sentence you to death for any crime at all, including the killing of the prime minister which happened in 1995.
liquidpremium responding to a
comment by sexy
12.29.10 - 10:16 pm
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That's what he gets for riding his bike. Fuckin hippies. Get a job!
Joe Borfo12.29.10 - 10:17 pm
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I read the article, but it still makes no sense why in a "free" country that anyone should be punished for peacefully protesting. Why should I even believe anything about this from an Israeli paper? Let's just say that I'm not a big fan of Israel.
Velocipede responding to a
comment by liquidpremium
12.30.10 - 12:45 pm
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Why wouldn't you believe something just because it was written in an Israeli paper? Israel has a free press. The newspapers are not government propaganda like in China or somewhere.
It says he had a suspended case from a previous case, so when you have a suspended sentence (at least as I understand the concept in the US) they put the sentence on hold and then when you violate any of terms of your probation they drop the hammer on you. But yes, it seems a little bizarre that you would get jail time for protesting in Israel which is pretty tolerant of nonviolent protest. He was the only person at the entire Critical Mass who was arrested, so all the more unusual.
Ha'Aretz is a very left wing Israeli paper. The writer Amira Hass lives with the Palestinians and is a very interesting character.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amira_Hass
Whether you like Israel or not, Israel is not a monolithic place. Unlike the US it has tons of political parties represented in parliament of all shades.
liquidpremium responding to a
comment by Velocipede
12.30.10 - 2:13 pm
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You say that Israel is tolerant of nonviolent protest. I got this story off of "Justice For Tristian Anderson" facebook page. Why Justice for Tristian Anderson? He was shot in the head with a tear gas canister during a anti separation wall protest in Isarel. He nows suffered serious brain damage from the shot from the IDF. I saw him on Democracy Now in wheelchair advocating for his friends who are the Iranian captured hikers. It hit me when I realized who that was, I haven't seen him since 2004. He was wheelchair bound and I don't think he can ride a bike anymore.
Tristian Anderson was a vibrant member of the Bicycle community in San Francisco, along with environment and social justice movements. I had the pleasure of being involved some of the same political actions in the past. He was a real pillar of the bicycle community in San Francisco and the activism community also. He is somebody that everybody admires. The first time I saw him he came up on a mountain bike carrying a heavy load on a trailer. It was a convergence center for a reclaim the commons/anti biotech action. The bike had a Ralph Nader has a posse (ala Andre the Giant) sticker on the headset. After he unloaded the cargo, he took off and came back with a bunch of boxes of Tofuities for everybody that he said was complements of the California Food Stamp program. It was the first time I saw anybody carry that much size and weight on a bike. The cargo, the sticker, his generosity , not to mention to that all the girls where on his tip all wooed me.
Shame what can happen to somebody who protest peacefully in Israel.
sexy responding to a
comment by liquidpremium
12.30.10 - 8:47 pm
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If you look @ Youtube vids of CM in Israel, there is hardly a copper in sight. Compare that to CM in LA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXv9SI-WJmM
I am not saying Israel is wonderful and that you should all move there, I'm just trying to point out that not everything is black & white and there is often more than meets the eye.
Tristian Anderson was hit by the tear gas canister in the West Bank. I wasn't there, but the Israeli version is that it was a violent demonstration. Now Anderson himself may have been completely nonviolent, but may have been caught in the crossfire. Again I wasn't there, so I don't know.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/14/world/middleeast/14westbank.html
At any rate, events that take place in the "occupied territories" are treated differently from events taking place within Israel itself.
Within Israel proper (i.e. places like Tel Aviv where CM takes place), there is a very lively culture of public demonstrations for and against all types of causes. Even in the US police can get rough with demonstrators - if you recall the Democratic Party convention in LA in 2000.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/08/15/convention.protests.02/index.html
liquidpremium responding to a
comment by sexy
12.30.10 - 11:06 pm
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