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July 11, 2006
Two Daughters
I received this from Naomi Ragen. It is chilling.
This is a true story about two daughters - Chaya
and Dana. Both are Israeli citizens. Both are Jewish. That's
about all they have in common. And the differences? Here is
one example: While one spent 40 days in jail and is
currently standing trial for her alleged crime, the other -
who committed the same crime - did not spent one minute
under arrest.
Chaya is my daughter. She is 15 years old. Last
summer, during the forced expulsion of Jews from Gaza, Chaya
went to a demonstration. She went to cry out against this
inhuman crime, she wanted to protect Jewish rights. She was
standing on the sidewalk when a policewoman approached her.
"Scram!" she told Chaya.
"I am not doing anything illegal!" protested Chaya.
"Beat it or I'll arrest you" repeated the bully in blue
uniform.
"I have every right to be here. This is Eretz Israel, and I
am not doing anything wrong!".
"This is the last time I'm saying it - get lost or I'll
arrest you!"
" Well, shut up and arrest me then". That was Chaya's
alleged response. I guess Chaya didn't want to put up with
being bullied around.
Chaya was arrested. Her alleged crime? "Insulting
a public official". The first five days she spent in
solitary confinement. No showers, no clean clothes, no phone
calls to parents or lawyers. She was declared an
"ideological criminal" by non other than the Israeli Supreme
Court (in)justice Ayala Proccacia, who remanded Chaya to
jail until the end of legal proceedings. It was only due to
the public outcry of which all of you were a major part,
that Chaya was finally released - after spending 40 days in
jail!!!
She was 14 years old.
Even after the expulsion from
Gaza was carried out the Prosecutor refused to close the
case, and we are still in the middle of the trial.
But......fear not! Freedom of speech is still
protected in Israel. At least for some Israelis. The
fortunate ones. The politically correct ones. The ones like
Dana.
Two weeks ago seven members of an Arab family were
killed on a Gaza beach. Though it was pretty clear from the
start that the IDF had nothing to do with it, the very moral
Dana and her friends decided to demonstrate and cry out in
order to protect Arabs and their rights. And so, bleeding
heart Dana made up signs, came up with slogans to chant, and
went to demonstrate at the home of the Chief of Staff Dan
Chalutz.
"Chalutz is a murderer, intifada shall prevail!!"
wrote peace-loving Dana on the posters.
"Beware! Murderer in the neighborhood!" they
screamed to every passerby.
Self-hating Dana knew that no-one would arrest her
for "insulting a public official". And indeed, not one of
about thirty policemen at the scene made any attempt to stop
Dana (who never once protested the murder of innocent Jews)
from spewing her belligerent diatribe. I suppose prema-Dana,
who's well in her twenties, didn't appear to them as much
of a criminal as my 14 year old Chaya.
Oh, one more thing. Dana's last name isn't Belogorodsky.
It is Olmert.
As in Ehud.
As in the Prime Minister of Israel.
And Dana is his daughter.
There is no "equality before the Law" in Israel.
Chaya's case is one of many. Nadya Matar, the courageous
leader of "Women in Green" is on trial for pointing out
certain similarities between the Judenraat and Yonatan Basi,
the head of the Gaza expulsion authority. Her crime?
"Insulting a public official". Itamar Ben-Gvir was arrested,
prosecuted and punished for calling MK Cohen a "murderer".
Itamar, too, "insulted a public official". Bleeding heart
Dana, on the other hand, was never even taken in for
questioning for the insults she hurled at the Chief of
Staff, much less jailed for her abuses.
Yes, I am outraged. Throughout our ordeal the
judges, prosecutors, cops - they all shoved the "sanctity of
the Law" in my face, thus justifying their kidnapping of my
child and holding her in a stinking cell, figuring that thus
they will succeed in breaking our protest against the
expulsion. Why is Dana's distorted morality above that very
same "sanctity of the Law"?
I am going to visit a police station. The same
one that Chaya was arrested at. I will file a complaint,
demanding they investigate Dana's criminal behavior. I will
forward my complaint to various MKs, demanding they hold a
special session to discuss this disgraceful discrimination.
I will demand she stand trial. I don't expect anything from
the "justice" system. I just want to expose their double
standards once again.
What can be done to fight this outrageous
discrimination? One of the main reasons why Dana & Co. feel
so free to exercise their rights is because they have
strong, influential organizations that will fight tooth and
nail to protect their right to freely and loudly spew their
venom. Betzelem, Association for Civil Rights, Rabbis for
Peace(sic!) , - they have the means to protect Dana's
"rights" to call for national suicide.
Today, we too have an organization that is
fighting to protect the civil rights of our segment of the
Israeli society.You've all heard of Honenu. For years Honenu
has been fighting to defend Jews from judicial harassment.
The time has come for Honenu to become stronger, much
stronger. Tough challenges lie ahead of us. Dana's father is
determined to deprive us of our most basic human rights, and
this on a much larger scale than his predecessor. We must
have a strong, loud, influential Honenu.
Every one of you can help by contributing much
needed funds - tax exempt both in Israel and the U.S. You
can also volunteer your time. Please visit
www.civilrightsisrael.org
Over the past year Chaya and I have conducted a
number of highly successful parlor meetings both here in
Israel and the U.S. These meetings help Honenu with badly
needed funds. They also provide an opportunity to form new
contacts and get more people involved. If you feel that you
can host such a meeting - whether in English, Hebrew, or
Russian - please contact me :
Moshe Belogorodsky
ydf@013.net.il
cell 011-972-52-444-3929
May we merit to see the fulfillment of our
daily prayer: "Bring back our judges as in former times".
Sincerely,
Moshe
Meanwhile, one of the leaders of Honenu has been under arrest for over three months. Read about it here. Hat Tip to Seraphic friend Elliot Ganz for bringing this article to my attention.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at July 11, 2006 09:04 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
What a disturbing post. Not only because of the discrepancies in the way the two women were treated, but because a Jew could actually write the words 'the intifada will prevail.'
G-d help her.
Posted by: Tamara at July 11, 2006 10:20 AM
it sounds like the "only democracy" in the mid East is no longer.
Posted by: Ari Z. Miller at July 11, 2006 10:36 AM
Tamara:
Dana Olmert and her buddies stand at IDF check-points making sure that Israeli soldiers do not "humiliate" the Arabs who are on line.
One wonders if any homicide bombers or other terrorists get through because of Dana Olmert's interference.
It is not hard to imagine such a scenario.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 11, 2006 12:24 PM
Ari:
As in all political systems those in the higher echelons get preferential treatment.
However, what makes this case so noteworthy, so utterly vile, is that Dana Olmert's political beliefs are so extreme, so far to the left that her discourse and actions end up being--and I'm sure she would deny this, but look, American Communists supported Stalin and made excuses for his mass murders--postions that clearly give aid and comfort to terrorists everywhere. For it is clear that no matter what Israel does, Dana Olmert and her leftist cadres will fault that position and give voice to the culture of grievance and terror that characterizes Arab society.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 11, 2006 12:34 PM
Once I saw Amy Carter (former prez's daughter) dressed dumpy and hippieishly on Brown Univ.'s campus, and thought, "Hmm, that's not too statesmanly," but this is in a different category.
Dana needs to hold down a job and pay taxes for a while. It worked for me.
Posted by: Jeremiah at July 11, 2006 01:44 PM
Jeremiah:
Dana needs to remember that the people she so vigorously romanticizes and defends, want her just as dead as all other Zionists and Jews.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 11, 2006 01:49 PM
I would never wish harm on another person but my curiosity some times gets the best of me. Do these "leftist" change their position when their friends or family become victims of a Hamas terror? Sometimes it takes a tragic event for people to see how wrong they were.
Posted by: Ari Z. Miller at July 11, 2006 02:05 PM
Ari:
As you know, Israel is a tiny country, everyone knows someone who has been killed, maimed and wounded. The deep-end lefties in Israel are just like the lefties everywhere: they blame Israel's policies for most everything, instead of placing the blame firmly where it belongs, on the terrorists and the dysfucntional society that spawns them.
Though Israel pulled out of Gaza the lefties will say that it was unilateral, that Israel still controlled the check-points, that there are still settlers in Judea and Samaria, that the pull-out is just a sham for it is "temporary."
In short, their talking points are exactly those of Hamas. Which, you can bet your bottom dollar, Hamas is aware of and deeply appreciates.
Nothing Israel can or will do, short of national suicide, will satisfy Dana Olmert and her fellow travelers.
They have no notion that the war against israel has nothing to do with land. They live in a fantasy world. They do not believe what Hamas publicly proclaims: that their objective is to destroy the State of Israel.
It is a form of paternalisitc racism for basically the left is saying that Arabs are so stupid, so primitive that they cannot be held to the same civilized standards as everyone else; the Arabs are never responsible for their own actions; it's always Israel's fault, or America's fault. This type of thinking absolves the Arabs from all personal responsibility and gives them a pass to commit the most heinous acts imaginable.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 11, 2006 02:26 PM
Dana Olmert needs to find a better way than being a self-hating Jew to rebel against her father.
Posted by: Ari Z. Miller at July 11, 2006 03:09 PM
Ari:
I have some bad news for you: It's not just Dana, it's all her siblings and their mother. Yup, Mrs. Olmert is a well-known leftie. She was the one who insisted that the Olmert children all attend "exclusive progressive" private schools where you can bet your bottom dollar the Olmert kids learned not an ounce of Torah or ahavat Eretz Yisroel.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 11, 2006 03:17 PM
Robert - thanks for posting this. We had posters up everywhere when Chaya was in jail, and my kids went door to door collecting for Honeinu.
Unforutnately, that puts us squarely on the Shabak's list of "problematic people."
I would say - "may we hear better news", but right now, things are getting pretty bad on Israel's northern border.
Posted by: Jameel @ The Muqata at July 12, 2006 01:53 AM
Jameel:
You're very welcome. Yes, may we hear better news.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at July 12, 2006 09:17 AM
you are a racist...
no im not an arab, im not a self hating jew. im not an evangelical idiot. but unfortunately you are exactly that: a man so blinded by his own ignorance and fear that he fails to see anything at all. i wonder if you saw a man die in the streets what you would think? perhaps your first thought would be "arab or jew?" because its quite obvious to you that 7 dead palestinians and your daughter spending 5 days in jail (granted a ridiclous heinous idea: a 14 year old girl spending 5 nights in jail for insulting an officer? welcome to the global police state) are quite equal right? and why? i can only assume that every dead palestinian just means more land for you right? honestly i am so sick of this issue. im so sick of the imams, of the knesset, of all the war mongering blood thirsty overzealous religious fanatic war profiteers. grow up. maybe you shouldnt be in land that is demarcated to another countries indigenous population by UN resolution. maybe you should realize that israel is in the middle east: not europe or america. and when the american money stops and israel ceases to be beneficial to americas interests you'll be just there...in the middle east. surrounded by hostile people that you have alienated, bombed, maimed and driven to extremism. you really want to think of your daughter? how about teaching her that when all humans bleed, they bleed red. not blue and white or black green red and white. this is a situation that cannot sustain itself. and you are doing more damage to your children than you are doing them good. bleeding heart? wow...
Posted by: a man losing his faith at February 24, 2007 03:56 AM