[GushShalomPress] A special "Gush Shalom law"?

[Gush Shalom (Israeli Peace Bloc)]

GUSH SHALOM - pob 3322, Tel-Aviv 61033 - http://www.gush-shalom.org/

Press release
September 2, 2002

[In this version which is sent to Israeli and international activists, not to the press, you 
find as P.S. in the end details for a protest letter, with sample (Hebrew and English).] 

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-- The Attorney General: No basis to prosecute Gush Shalom
-- The Minister of Justice: We will consider legislation to put the Gush Shalom activists 
on trial
-- At the same time: a beginning of a more critical general public 
-- Well-known legal expert Moshe Hanegbi: special legislation could overturn the rule of 
law.
= == == == == == ==  == == == == == == == == == == == ==  == == == == == == 

-- Today, Attorney General, Elyakim Rubinstein - after having been repeatedly 
pressured by the government to start procedures against Gush Shalom - was quoted 
as saying that he doesn't see any legal basis for such a step. 
We are happy but not surprised at hearing this news. We never had a doubt that 
warning officers about violations of international law was a completely legal act, and 
that the true offenders were those responsible for the bombings and shootings which 
ended in the killing of civilians.  

-- Matters do not, however, rest with the AG's decision. Meir Sheetrit, Minister of 
Justice, seems determined to put Gush Shalom activists on trial, and if existing 
legislation will not serve his purpose he intends to introduce some brand-new bills. The 
minister's intention has been announced at noon via Y-Net* (the website of Israel's  
mass distribution daily Yediot Aharonot) and continues to fill the electronic media 
programs - also giving our people the opportunity to answer.
The minister did not go into details, so we are left in doubt as to his exact intent: A law 
forbidding Israeli citizens to collect evidence of violations of International Law? A 
prohibition on warning officers against the possible consequences of such violations? It 
would certainly be a preposterous and unprecedented law - but then, quite a few 
preposterous and unprecedented  things already happened here...

-- We have the impression that the effort of the Minister of Justice to extend his 
campaign against us beyond the Attorney Generals' conclusion has much to do with 
the general situation. 
In the past weeks the public atmosphere in Israel is gradually changing. After many 
months of giving uncritical support to whatever the army and the government chose to 
do,  the mainstream media is starting to ask sharp questions, especially regarding the 
series of incidents ("regrettable accidents" as the army put it)  which claimed the lives 
of fifteen innocent Palestinian civilians, including four children, over just a few days. 
Defence Minster Ben Eliezer, facing the challenge of the dovish Amram Mitzna for the 
Labour Party leadership, felt obliged to appoint a special investigator and demand an 
account from the army command. 
Also, Army Chief-of-Staff Yaalon came under strong fire in the press for his lashing out 
at "the enemy within" (Ha'aretz August 31) - attempting to deligitimise all wartime 
dissent and criticism of the army. Moreover, there has been a stream of revelations 
about widespread looting in the Palestinian towns occupied by the army in April and 
again since June - no surprise to hardcore peace and human rights activists, but 
virtually the first which the general Israeli public heard of such things, and also the first 
time that the reports are bolstered by first-hand testimonies of some of the soldiers 
themselves.

The change in public atmosphere has to be seen also against the background of the 
halt in suicide bombings inside Israel. It is now precisely a month since the last such 
bombing, which happened on August 4. The halt in suicide bombings is the official 
policy of the Palestinian Authority, and so far also the radical factions such as Hamas 
observe it in practice. It is however doubtful whether the Palestinian factions will be 
able to continue with the wise  restraint policy in the face of the bloody provocations of 
the past days - and with no end in sight of the curfews, the closures, the occupation. 

-- Today, on Israeli radio (Reshet Bet), the well-known legal commentator Moshe Negbi 
praised the Attorney General for his decision not to start proceedingas against Gush 
Shalom. He sharply condemned the intended special legislation of the Justice 
Minister, saying that such legislation  might completely overturn  the rule of law in 
Israel. "The perception of reporting violations of law as 'informing' is fitting for a 
persecuted community in a ghetto which regards police as the enemy, or to an 
underground. It is completely unfitting for a sovereign democratic state." 

* http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-2096653,00.html


PS: If you feel that you want to write your opinion to our Justice Minister, here follow 
his address details. Use the sample letter or make your own text (more impressive). It 
doesn't have to be long. 

Meir Shetreet Minister of Justice 
<sar at justice.gov.il>
Fax : + 972 (0)2 6285438

[sample letter Hebrew]
                                                                                   ìëáåã
                                                              îø îàéø ùéèøéú, ùø äîùôèéí
                                                                                        
                                                                                   à.ð. 
                                                                                        
           úô÷éãê ëùø îùôèéí áîãéðä ãîå÷øèéú äåà ìùîåø òì ùìèåï äçå÷, åìà ìò÷í àú äîòøëú 
     äîùôèéú áëãé "ìçñì çùáåðåú" òí éøéáéí ôåìéèééí. àí çùåáéí ìê çééìé öä"ì, úåëì ìòæåø 
       ìäí áöåøä äèåáä áéåúø áëê ùúééãò àåúí òì äëììéí äáéðìàåîééí äîçééáéí ìâáé äúðäâåú 
       áú÷åôú îìçîä åáùèç ëáåù, áî÷åí ìäùúìç áôòéìé ùìåí ùåîøé çå÷ äîðñéí ìçæ÷ àú äúåãòä 
                                                                   äàæøçéú ùì áðé òîí.  

[sample letter English]

Dear Minister Shetreet

Your task as Minister of Justice in a democratic state is to preserve the rule of law, 
and not to bend the legal system in order to settle accounts. You seem to care much 
for the soldiers. You would serve their interest better by making sure they are informed 
about the international rules which govern wars and behavior in occupied territory, 
instead of lashing out against law abiding peace seekers who try to raise the 
awareness of their fellow-citizens.

       
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