Adalah Represents Protestors Arrested during Demonstrations against Gaza Attacks

Adalah has taken action against the detention and arrests of numerous protestors participating in demonstrations against the Israeli attacks on Gaza over the past few days.

During a protest staged at Tel Aviv University (TAU) on 29 December 2008, Arab students were physically attacked by an unknown person. Upon the attack, police forces on the scene refused to intervene and arrested three Arab students. The protest had received the relevant permit from TAU authorities. In a letter sent to the Tel Aviv police, Adalah Attorney Abeer Baker demanded the release of the three student protestors. She further noted that the occurrence of an unidentified person attacking Arab protestors, which consequently resulted in the forceful end of the protest, and at times with protestors being detained and arrested, was a common one. Attorney Baker further argued that these circumstances are suspicious, and thus, she demanded that an investigation be opened into the identity of these people.

In a separate protest which took place on 29 December 2008, the Israeli police arrested five students at Ben Gurion University in Beer el-Sabe (Beer Sheva). The students were subsequently released following the intervention of Adalah Attorney Morad El-Sana and volunteer attorney Sh'hada Ben-Beri. The students were arrested under the pretence that the protest was illegal. Attorneys El-Sana and Ben-Beri explained to the police that such a protest did not warrant a permit and thus the students were unlawfully arrested.

In a third incident on 29 December 2008, the police arrested a bus driver and protesters who were on their way from Haifa to Tel Aviv to attend a demonstration against the Israeli attacks on Gaza. The police demanded that the bus driver drive to the police station with the protestors, claiming the demonstration was illegal as it was unauthorized. Adalah Attorney Orna Kohn contacted the police demanding the immediate release of the bus driver and protestors. Attorney Kohn argued that the arrest violates the right of freedom of expression of the protestors and the right to privacy of the bus driver. All detainees were subsequently released.