Jerusalem, Israel

As the world prepares to celebrate Human Rights Day, Israeli watchdog groups have a harsh critique of the government's increasing attempts to silence participants in the huge social protest movement and stifle freedom of speech.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) blasted Israeli security forces for targeting groups opposed to Israel's presence in the West Bank and harassing activists and foreign workers. ACRI and other groups have said the anti-civil rights measures are being led by Israeli's parliament.

"There are some serious indications that human rights got worse in the past year," Ron Gerlitz, co-executive director of Sikkuy, the Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, told The Media Line.

The most problematic institution is the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, where there has been a wave of legislation whose aim is to limit the rights of Arab citizens and non-governmental organizations (NGOs,) freedom of speech and other basic freedoms, he said.

"There is still freedom of expression but the direction has been negative and mainly directed at the radical left and the Arabs. And it will only move toward the left and then everyone and that is really frightening," Gerlitz said, adding that the Israeli

These sentiments were echoed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said over the weekend that she is concerned about a "wave of anti-democratic legislation" in Israel, in particular the bill proposing a limit to foreign donations to human rights organizations and the growing exclusion of women from Israeli public life.

Clinton's comments drew a slew of reaction, mostly angry, from Israeli politicians, including Interior Minister Eli Yishai who said "everything we do here will be according to law." But Tzipi Livni, head of the opposition Kadima Party, warned that Clinton's comments should awaken those "still blind to the murky cloud that is passing over Israel from within."

Human rights groups lamented the slew of bills being introduced in the Knesset that restrict freedom of expression. The most notable is one barring anyone from calling for a boycott of Israel or Israeli goods, including those produced in communities built in West Bank land acquired by Israel in the 1967 war. Others raise the awards on libel suits, seek to influence the selection of Supreme Court justices and restrict funding to NGOs from abroad.

In its annual assessment of human rights in Israel and the territories, ACRI said there are growing attempts to stifle freedom of speech and assembly, ironically after a summer that saw hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in unprecedented protests for social justice.

"Over the summer there were various instances, where the police stepped over the red line. There were instances of needless hassling when people were brought to judges who dismiss them, or where police broke up legal demonstrations with their faces covered and without identities which is against regulations," Ronit Sela, a spokeswoman for ACRI, told The Media Line.

According to Sela, the anti-democratic infractions took place mainly on the fringes of the central protests, away from the public eye. These included the dismantling of some of the protest camps, and clamping down on left-wing and Arab demonstrators.

"The average Israeli saw the past summer and hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating in Tel Aviv, but he didn't see the crackdown. But the further you go to the periphery the more you saw it," Sela said.

The ACRI report said police and security forces were coercing protestors to sign promises not to attend future demonstrations.

"The warning talks with the police are usually with Arabs or others who belong to the political left. This violates an understanding that in a democracy the police don't summon citizens to tell them what they are doing is wrong. These are folks who are not being investigated by police, but are nevertheless being warned about their actions. It is done on the fringes and they are not usually part of the mainstream, but it is important for Israel to stop this because if you don't stop it on the fringes and no one calls out against it, there is always the chance that it will grow," Sela said.

Furthermore, the ACRI report said Israeli security authorities did not tolerate gatherings in the West Bank areas it controls, including nonviolent gathers. Sela said the human rights violations against foreign workers held in detention centers were particularly worrisome because they are "completely off the radar."

Indeed on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu highlighted the issue of these foreign workers, mostly Africans who sneaked into the country, saying they were a "threat to the economy, to society, to security and to the delicate demographic fabric" of Israel. He told his cabinet that he has set up a special ministerial team to deal with the problem.

ACRI said these foreigners are in many cases detained well beyond the maximum 60 days and in some cases for years. "It is important for us to publish these sorts of things. There are still dark corners that we must shine the spotlight on," Sela said.

But groups that monitor these human rights organizations such as ACRI said they are politically motivated and ignore reality.

"Organizations like ACRI and another 20 or 30 get a huge amount of money from European governments in order to make the claim that civil right and human rights are violated. If they were to reflect the reality that Israeli is a vibrant democracy they would be out of a job," Gerald Steinberg, chairman of that NGO Monitor, told The Media Line.

"No democratic system is perfect, but to affect the changes that are necessary these organizations should be part of Israeli civil society and not making claims that are picked up the U.S. Secretary of State," Steinberg added. "In Israel, as in other vibrant democracies, human rights are widely respected and this is significant particularly in light of the ongoing conflict and terrorism."

 

 

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