The Persecution of the Demonstrators May Strengthen the Protest Against the Government

The police harass protesters and systematically arrest them under false pretences. An interview with Uri Weltmann of the Standing Together leadership, who was detained during the demonstration on Saturday night

By Shany Payes

Editor Maayan Galili

Translation using Google Translate with minor edits by Lior Suchoy

Date of original publication: 3/11/2024

Original Hebrew text: https://www.rosamedia.org/episodes/articles/57

A member of the Standing Together leadership Uri Weltmann joined yesterday (Saturday, November 2, 2024) the thousands of demonstrators who were arrested or detained in the left-wing demonstrations and the protest against the government. From the data of the arrestee register system [מערך עצורים Ma’arch Atzurim - LS] it appears that during the 18 months period, between January 2023 and June 2024, the police made more than 1,500 false arrests during demonstrations, that is, arrests for which no indictment was filed. Of the 1,531 arrest cases opened this year, indictments were filed in only seven. According to The Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI), the policy of false arrests continues. Lasting only hours and days, from August 31 to September 7, 2024, at least 127 demonstrators were arrested across the country in demonstrations against government policy. Of these, at least 56 were kept in overnight detention and brought before a judge [to decide on] extension of detention, and ten more were released after a night in detention. All those who were brought [in front of the court] for an extension of detention were released by the court, which determined that no grounds for detention had been proven.

Weltmann, like many others, was arrested by undercover policemen in plainclothes. ACRI appealed twice to the legal advisors [יועץ משפטי Yoetz Mishpati – LS] of the government and the police, in May and July 2024, demanding a stop to the use of undercover police in anti-government demonstrations, following accumulation of evidence on their operations in demonstrations. According to ACRI, "[this practice of] police officers... impersonating protesters, making arrests, going beyond the procedures and beating the protesters while using impossible force and documenting the protesters' activities, harms requests for freedom of expression, and discourages the entire public from exercising the right to protest."

Uri, tell [us] what happened.

"The evening began in Ha-Bima Square, where a demonstration of about a thousand participants, called on by Standing Together and other organisations, against the war in Gaza and Lebanon and in particular against the application of the so-called ‘generals plan’, a plan to starve and expel Palestinians from Northern Gaza in order to implement the messianic vision of [establishing new] settlements.

The demonstration took place with police permission. We also asked for permission for a march in advance that would allow us to join the hostages’ families’ demonstration when it concludes. The police refused to guarantee a safe route [to march] between Ha-Bima and the Hostages Square [כיכר החטופים Kikar HaHatufim – LS]. We told the police in advance that at the end of the demonstration in Ha-Bima, some of the demonstrators in Ha-Bima would want to join the hostages’ families’ demonstration, and it would be safer to approve the march and to secure safe walking paths [between the two places], but the police, for some reason, refused. At the end of the demonstration, hundreds of people walked on main streets such as Dizengoff, Ibn Gabirol and Kaplan. As we expected, it was impossible for hundreds of people to march together on the sidewalks, and so it turned out that at times the demonstrators walked on the road. The police announces that walking is allowed on the pavement only, and that anyone who steps onto the road will receive a fine. We know of at least ten protesters who received a fine of one thousand NIS, including me.

During the walk to Kaplan I was approached by two people in civilian clothes – now I know they were police - and asked me to identify myself. I asked them to identify themselves to verify they are policeman. One of them identified himself. The other opened a wallet and closed it in the blink of an eye without me being able to recognise his name or see the tag. An exchange ensued during which I insisted that he identifies himself.

They pushed me into a police car and took me to the Lev Tel Aviv police station. There I was detained for seven hours and was released at 3 AM to the cheers of the activists who were waiting for me."

What happened during your detention?

"I was handcuffed by the hands and feet, the items I had with me were collected, I was searched. I spent the hours in a crowded detention cell with other detainees, some of them criminal detainees, waiting for [a police]  investigator.

Towards 3 AM an investigator had a conversation with me for about 20 minutes, during which he asked me about the offenses attributed to me – disturbing public order [הפרת הסדר הציבורי Hafarat Haseder Hatziburi – LS] and refusal for detention [סירוב לעיכוב Seiruv Le-ikuv – LS] by a police officer. I rejected both counts. After a few questions, I was released."

Statistics show that you will most likely not be charged. Out of thousands of arrests, indictments are filed against only a few protesters.

"This figure indicates that [these detentions] are not about enforcing the law but a type of harassment. Also the inexplicable refusal of the police to arrange safe routes in advance for the demonstrators resulted in the demonstrators receiving fines and me being detained. Not only would the fines and the delay have been avoided [if the police would have cooperated], the interruption to public order would also have been reduced by a lot. The police caused a much more severe interruption than the protestors."

All this sounds like absolute political persecution.

"Definitely agree. The police understood very well that they were not committing an offense, so they used all the tools at their disposal to harass. This indicates political judgment [by the police]."

As a member of the leadership of Standing Together and among others organising demonstrations, to what extent do you think these moves discourage activists and activity from taking part in demonstrations?

"In the years that have passed since the protests against the judicial reform began, protests became massive and the harassment by the police became massive too. Many protesters who are not necessarily political activists or members of organisations are arrested, detained and harassed, so we are past the point where these [actions] deter. The actions of police [only] lead to rage and increased [motivation for] protests. The non-violent resistance theoretician Gene Sharp calls such moments 'jiu-jitsu moments'. As in the martial art, a fighter takes advantage of the opponent's momentum to defeat him, in protest [movements], the activists can leverage the force exerted against them to mobilise more people in their favour. The protest for the return of hostages, the protest against the judicial reform and I hope that the protest against the war in Gaza and in Lebanon, which are closely tied to the call for a hostage deal, can do that. "

How do you feel personally after being detained, interrogated and released in the dead of night?

"Since 3 AM I have been answering to my friends who ask how I am, that I am tired but fine. And all this time I am thinking, I was indeed bullied and detained, but I did not suffer severe violence, neither in the vehicle that took me to the station nor at the station. If I was a Palestinian I am not sure that this was the case, and we know that the treatment of Palestinian detainees is are much harsher. We need to remember this when discussing harassment of protestors. "

Will you protest again?

"I was released for 15 days on personal bail with the condition that I am not allowed to participate in illegal demonstrations. Therefore, I intend to participate in as many legal demonstrations [as I can] in the next 15 days."

Translation notes:

The use of 'arrest' and 'detain' in this interview can be interchangeable. This reflects the ambiguity of the term מעצר in Hebrew.