Civil Society Organizations in Israel: Protect Activists from Violence

10/11/2011

We, members of Israeli civil society, express our solidarity with the activists and organizations which have been subjected to threats and acts of violence.

We, members of Israeli civil society, express our solidarity with the activists and organizations which have been subjected to threats and acts of violence. These acts are intended to intimidate all of us and silence our voices. We warn that the threat of violence was already realized in the past, demonstrating that such acts do not stop at the level of mere slogans. Those who uproot olive trees and burn mosques are liable to not refrain from inflicting bodily, even life-threatening harm on Palestinians and Israelis whose views and actions they consider objectionable. In these days, when we commemorate the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin because of his views, we raise our voices in protest and concern: the lesson has not been learned and no real attempt is made to bring the perpetrators of violence against activists and organizations to justice. It is not a matter for euphemisms such as "taking the law into one's own hands," or "a price tag." Rather it is a matter of threats and acts of violence perpetrated by thugs encouraged by the inaction of the law enforcement authorities. The authorities must take the threat seriously and fulfill their duty to protect Israeli activists and Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Israel, in order to ensure that ideological disputes do not end in gun shots.

[For example, the death threats and "price tag" vandalism recently aimed at the Peace Now organization and its project coordinator Haggit Ofran. See http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/rabin-is-waiting-sprayed-on-peace-activist-s-door-1.394450 - Adalah]

Signed by:

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel
ASSAF - Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights
Breaking the Silence
B'Tselem: the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Coalition of Women for Peace
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual
Ir Amim
IRAC – Israel Religious Action Center
Israeli Children
Kav LaOved (Workers' Hotline)
MachsomWatch
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
The Public Committee against Torture in Israel
Rabbis for Human Rights
Yesh Din