Police Threaten Rape of Jewish Teenagers

[NewsGuy]

I posted this at the end of another thread, but it is shocking enough to merit its own discussion about whether Olmert who ordered the vicious attack on Jewish families is guilty of crime against humanity.

As of this time, dozens of victims of the forced expulsion are still lying in hospital beds, some near death after Olmert ordered Israeli army troops and police squads to smash the skulls of the men, women and children whose homes he demolished.

Human rights groups and local citizen councils are calling for a formal inquiry, which Olmert's administration is resisting.

Yesterday, yet another atrocity of the expulsion was revealed:

The Israeli press reported yesterday that many teenage girls in Amona were sexually molested by the Olmert expulsion police and threatened with rape.

From news article:

Police accused of sexual harassment during Amona clash
By Nadav Shragai

Last Update: 07/02/2006 02:05

Top Yesha Council settler leaders have charged police officers with sexually harassing female protesters during last week's evacuation of the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona. The allegations were made public for the first time yesterday, during a two-hour meeting between Yesha officials and Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra.

[...]

The alleged harassment includes police officers attempting to touch female protesters in an inappropriate manner. In another incident, a policeman is accused of urinating near female protesters and rudely dismissing a policewoman who spoke to him about it.

Policemen are also accused of shouting at young women: "We are going to rape you," and a female protester reported that while a policeman was attempting to remove her from the site, he had yelled: "Whore, open your legs."

Until yesterday, the accusations had been made only in closed meetings.

Article

[NewsGuy]

Well, looks like Olmert will be investigated despite his best efforts to avoid an inquiry:

From news article:

Knesset approves inquiry panel into Amona clashes
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent

The right-wing parties marked an important achievement on Wednesday when lawmakers approved a proposal to form a parliamentary inquiry committee to look into the violent evacuation of nine structures built in the illegal West Bank outpost of Amona last month.

The proposal was approved in a 37 to 32 vote, with deputies of Likud, NRP, National Union and the ultra-Orthodox parties voting in favor, and MKs from Kadima, Labor, Meretz and the Arab parties opposing it.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz attended the vote, which marked Olmert's first defeat in the Knesset since he was named acting prime minister following Ariel Sharon's massive stroke on January 4.

Olmert has expressed his outright opposition to an inquiry into the Amona incident, where some 200 people were injured during clashes between right-wingers and police forces, which used officers mounted on horseback to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters

Source

I hope that Olmert is held accountable for his explicit orders to the Israeli army and police to brutalize the Jewish men, women, and children whose violent expulsion he ordered.

[minusthejihad]

Without knowing much about Olmert or his hostory altogether, my general perception is that he had to 1) carry out Sharon's destiny to secure Kadima leadership and 2) he had to demonstrate to his people, the Arabs, and the rest of the world that he was strong. I think he may have gone too far. Either way, its a black eye for Israel.

[NewsGuy]

... its a black eye for Israel.

Yes, very much so.

[NewsGuy]

Interesting opinion piece:

From news article:

What Is Olmert Afraid Of?
By Yehuda Poch February 6, 2006

MKs on both ends of the political spectrum as well as President Moshe Katsav have called for an official investigation of the events in Amona. Even Israel's Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, who has not demonstrated any particular friendship to Israel's right wing, hinted, according to a report on Israel Radio today, that police erred by using excessive violence during the evacuation of the outpost last Wednesday. Today, he told the cabinet that other methods of evacuation could have been employed to remove the protesters from the site.

Yet Mazuz, in the very hypocritical fashion Israelis have come to refer to as "politics," backed Olmert's decision not to hold an inquiry.

In light of the fact that even the most left-wing members of Knesset, such as Yuli Tamir, have been calling for such an investigation, Olmert's refusal leaves a huge question mark over his government. And it is a question that must be answered before the elections. That question is, what is Olmert afraid of?

Is he afraid that such an investigation would include in its mandate the role of the government in fostering an attitude that a significant segment of Israel's population are viewed as "outsiders"? Is he afraid that it will include an investigation into how and why Israeli right wingers are driven to establish communities the government refuses to legalize? Is he afraid it will examine how any Jewish government can drive Jews out of their homes and then fail to pay the promised compensation? Is he afraid of an investigation into why such "removals" of illegal communities are not carried out when the communities in question are Arab? Or is he afraid, perhaps, that it will ask how and why the government has come to value the destruction of Jewish communities over the development of the Land of Israel?

Article

[Seraph]

I don't buy it.

Maybe some police officer used inappropriate language and called a female settler 'a whore' or some other inexcusable word. The officer or officers should be severely disciplined.

If any officer touched female protesters while removing them by force (we all saw the pictures) that is not automatically sexual harassment. However, I believe each case should be investigated and if there is evidence of any wrong doing the police officer in question should be punished according to the law. A public inquiry which is going to just turn into a political circus is not the way to go. There are other ways to conduct investigations in matters like these.

The accusations alone are serious enough, no need to make things worse by turning this into a circus. This is why the police usually try to have enough female officers on the scene to take care of female protesters. But the fact that there were male policemen who removed those female protesters doesn't suddenly turn this country into Sudan where the authorities are sent to rape defenseless women and children.

Emotions are running high and I'm getting the feeling that people are jumping the gun here. Don't get me wrong, any allegations should be properly investigated. But for the most part these men, who had to take a lot of abuse from those peaceful, defenseless settlers, performed their duty admirably. It is the most difficult thing in the world to face screaming, kicking, stone-throwing protesters and try to remove them from the scene without anyone getting hurt. The Israeli police deserves our respect, not this guilty before proven innocent stuff.

If some of these protesters made up some of the things the police are being accused of, it will not surprise me. It would not be the first time. Accusations don't automatically make someone guilty of a crime. Let's see the evidence. If any of the accusations turn out to be true I'll be the first to demand the guy's head on a pole. But until then the brave men and women of the police deserve their day in court.

The settler movement have disseminated all sorts of outrageous accusations in the passed year or so. Settlers have compared the Israeli government to the Nazi regime. Now, that sort of propagandist dishonesty causes me to doubt whether anything the settlers say nowadays has any connection with reality. Now people who call soldiers and police Nazis and who throw stones on police, or as we saw in Gaza, even went so far as to throw dangerous chemicals at the police, have a questionable idea of truth and justice. Frankly I'm beginning to doubt whether there is anything they won't do in order to hurt the government and to have their way.

Like I said, let's wait till all the facts are out. No need to start threads about accusations that haven't been proven yet. When we see indictments, we can get all riled up.

This is a delicate matter and should not be used cynically for political purposes.

[minusthejihad]

And the same can be said the other way around. Police and disengagement officials said that settlers poured "acid" on them during the Gaza withdrawal and it was broadcast around the world instantly and everyone thought the settlers were guilty right away. Now we find out it was all lies. So this works both ways.

[Seraph]

And the same can be said the other way around. Police and disengagement officials said that settlers poured "acid" on them during the Gaza withdrawal and it was broadcast around the world instantly and everyone thought the settlers were guilty right away. Now we find out it was all lies. So this works both ways.

The chemical burns were very real. The fact that it wasn't acid, but detergents or something doesn't change a thing. But forget the chemicals, whatever they were (it could be chicken soup for all I care). Protesters have no right to raise their hands against the police. They can protest peacefully. They can shout, they can resist, they can write whatever message they want to get across. Throwing rocks, dirt and anything else they get their hands on is outside of what can be called their democratic right to protest.

Rocks that can take an eye out, are not defended by their right to free speech.

The authorities were very careful with the language they used when it came to the settlers. Hell, they said it was painful to face the salt of the earth, their brothers and sisters. Senior police and military people said on many occasions that it pained them to have to remove these people from their homes and that they felt their pain. With only one exception that I know of which made the headlines of some senior police officer who spoke against the settlers, and who was disciplined for those remarks.

[minusthejihad]

Dude, if someone came to my house right now to unlawfully evict me, I'd throw a lot more than rocks. Especially, if my government had already failed me and undemocratically decided to do whats best for our enemies instead of their own people.

[minusthejihad]

Look, I'm not even religious, nor do I generally like our religious people. I definately don't agree with many of our religious laws created by the very same people. But what I like least of all are people <edited by moderator> who get offended when you refer to them as Jews because they would rather be called "Israelis" and relate more to Israeli Arabs than to the people who help continue our religion into the future.

[Seraph]

Dude, if someone came to my house right now to unlawfully evict me, I'd throw a lot more than rocks. Especially, if my government had already failed me and undemocratically decided to do whats best for our enemies instead of their own people.

Dude, if the democratically elected government decides that you have to be evicted for whatever reason, and it is approved by the Knesset, and by the Supreme Court, then you will be evicted.

And you know what else dude? You could even throw your mother at the police, it wouldn't make your actions legal or defensible. Either Israel is a democratic country where the rule of law still applies, or it is no better than the PA where everyone does whatever the hell they want and where everyone carries a gun and decides which laws apply to him and which don't.

[minusthejihad]

Dude, if the democratically elected government decides that you have to be evicted for whatever reason, and it is approved by the Knesset, and by the Supreme Court, then you will be evicted.

And you know what else dude? You could even throw your mother at the police, it wouldn't make your actions legal or defensible. Either Israel is a democratic country where the rule of law still applies, or it is no better than the PA where everyone does whatever the hell they want and where everyone carries a gun and decides which laws apply to him and which don't.

So why no national referendum on the issue? Why did Sharon say one thing to get elected and then do the complete opposite? Where is your constitution that sets the standards from which your supreme court can use a precedent?

If thats the type of democracy you are content with, then so be it. But that's not the type of democracy many in your country believed they lived under until only recently.

[Mediocrates]

Selected brutalities from Amona

A very small sample is presented here:

* Roni Daniel, Channel Two's veteran anchorman, reported from the scene: "The policemen here are reigning blows down on the settlers, one after the other. The blows are unnecessary, they are hitting just to vent their rage. There is no need for it. The police behavior on the roofs has to be investigated. The violence here is unnecessary."

* Teenage girls said the police called them prostitutes, threatened to rape them, and touched their private parts.

* A 52 year old woman said that when a Yassam policeman took her out of a house in Amona, he placed his hand under her sweater. She slapped him in the face. Other policemen then approached her in a threatening manner, but then left her.

* An army officer, whose name is known, did not allow an ambulance to enter Amona.

* Even Magen David Adom (MDA) medical teams were not immune to police attacks, even though they were wearing their orange MDA vests. On many occasions, they were brutally beaten.

* Fifteen year old Avishag S. of Haifa, who says she is still in pain and even has since developed a fever, told the following story:
"I was in house No. 6 and the Yassamnikim came in through the window. One of them pulled me up by the ear, while beating me with his club in my stomach. He didn't just hit me. He turned the stick around almost inside me and then another one kicked me in the back, and then sort of threw me out the window, giving me glass splinters in my leg. After a few seconds, my stomach began to hurt me terribly, and I just started screaming in pain, all doubled over. An army medic told me I had better go to the clinic, but a Yassamnik did not let me pass. Only when they brought me a stretcher, because I couldn't walk, did he let me go through. In the clinic, they didn't know exactly what to do.

But they saw there was a real fear of damage to an internal organ - so they called an ambulance. But throughout this time they couldn't give me any pain killer, and so I was yelling in pain the whole time. Once I was in the hospital (Shaarei Tzedek) they gave me an ultra sound and infusions and everything. That's when they finally told me that I was just a millimeter away from having an internal organ damaged, which would have meant a dangerous operation. I was also very worried that my uterus was affected, but in the end they reassured me on that as well..."

Three Knesset Members from the National Union Party were also injured. They were in Amona as observers in their capacity as representatives of the Knesset. They sustained head injuries and broken limbs. They say there is no way that this attack on them was accidental. Their faces are too well known in Israel.

Ehud Olmert has refused to institute an official investigation of what happened in Amona.

"The police only did their job", he said.

However, yesterday the Knesset voted in favor of establishing an Investigative Committee to look into last week's violence.

Olmert has used the police to silence his political opponents. Is the carnage at Amona the beginning of the end of Israel's democracy?
The following is an article which aptly describes the horrific police violence in Amona.

[minusthejihad]

As an outside observer, and as a secular Jew, I've been seeing that the secular Israelis, sabras especially, have been projecting their anger onto the settler movement and especially against religious Zionism. I've even seen reports posted in here and heard it from Sabras on this board that "the greatest threat to Israel are our settlers/extremists". If you believe that, I've got great property in Saudi Arabia to sell to you as well.

[Mediocrates]

Do we have to send helmets and body armor to the Jews of Yesha to protect them from the police?