More Israeli "Democracy"

Hagai Segal relates to an incident last week, on the Sunday of Passover down in Sderot (see here), which escaped the notice of all of Israel's liberal left progressive forces working on behalf of democracy:

Dark days in Israel

This past week, the thought police was officially established in Israel..Commander David Bitan...declared, in a somewhat festive tone: “We shall prevent them from thinking that they can risk themselves and reach forbidden locations.”

...His above-mentioned declaration included yet another reference to thoughts, and was also backed up by actions: The night before the planned march, the police raided the homes of the organizers and detained seven of them, he said. They did not manage to march even one step in the direction of their destination, and it is doubtful whether they even thought of marching, yet they found themselves behind lock and bar.

...The Israel Police, which has never stopped leftist demonstrators en route to their weekly riot in Naalin or Bil’in, again made an effort to end a rightist protest prematurely. The police have a chronic tendency to forget that even the hilltop youth are allowed to enjoy free speech. It does not recognize their right to long for Gush Katif.

The various pro-democracy institutions don’t recognize it either. They remained silent when word of the outrageous detainment of the seven above-mentioned thinkers came out. Only the Kiryat Gat court, headed by Justice Nechama Netzer, saved the day. When the police brought the seven suspects before the judge in order to extend their remand, Justice Netzer almost detained the police officers. She in fact ruled that the police robbed, in broad daylight, the detainees’ right to protest and ordered to free them at once.

..."The use of power and detention authority in order to avert this right of expression, beyond constituting a case of silencing others, indicates the arrival of very dark times across the State of Israel. Is it imaginable that the accused, whose only sin was being in Sderot or planning to reach Sderot, will be held, arrested, and possibly detained for another night, just because of their desire to protest? Woe on us if we reach days where people are scared to legally express their views, even through a protest or taking part in a legal protest."

And read here.