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jeff 0525380840
yehudit 0528459628
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey Daube" <jrmail@rcn.com>
>
> Below is my recollection and a couple of thoughts regarding the events of
> this evening. > Welcome to Israel!
>
> Having arrived on a Nefesh b'Nefesh flight less than two weeks ago, the
> following was the last thing I expected to happen during my first few
> weeks here:
>
> Since President Bush was in town, it was decided by a number of lay and
> rabbinical leaders that it would be good idea to distribute the latest
> report from David Bedein's Center for Near East Policy Research to the
> press covering the President's visit. The report, Fatah as "Moderate" A
> Hard Look Post Annapolis, can be found on-line at:
> http://israelbehindthenews.com/pdf/ModerateFatah.pdf and was authored by
> Arlene Kushner.
>
> At a National Council of Young Israel briefing by David Bedein last
> Friday attendees were asked to place themselves at various locations
> where the press was supposed to be to distribute literature and engage
> them in polite conversation about how Fatah and Abbas were not really the
> "moderate" alternative to Hamas.
>
> I was assigned to Kikar Safra between 3PM and 5PM on Wednesday, January
> 9. This location is where the foreign press corps gets its security
> clearance. It appeared as if there were no more correspondents around so
> we decided to go to the Dan Panorama Hotel where the foreign press was
> staying. After President Bush's press conference we assumed that the
> correspondents would be returning to the hotel so we were in front with
> our literature when the police told us that we could not stand there and
> we should move to the corners which I did.
>
> Approximately 20 minutes later a policeman comes down to the corner where
> I had been standing and taps me on the shoulder asks me for my teudat
> zehut and tells me to come with him. He then told me to get into the
> police car with Yehudit Dassberg, a terror victim, and Susie Dym,
> spokesperson for Mattot Arim, two colleagues who were there for the same
> purpose. They did not tell me at the time why I was being taken in but
> Susie told me in the car that they found the material either seditious or
> inciteful -- I am not sure which. Later it became apparent that they
> claimed we were creating a public nuisance. Nothing could be further from
> the truth. I was standing on a street corner quietly minding my own
> business, following the instructions of another police officer.
>
> We were brought to the police station at the Russian Compound and told to
> stay in a waiting room. I, not being totally fluent in Ivrit yet, allowed
> Susie to do all the talking. We called David Bedein and Rabbi Aaron
> Tirschwell and they in turn made a number of calls and we were released
> after being held for approximately 40 minutes. At no time were we
> questioned or asked to sign anything. The police said absolutely nothing
> to me and I said nothing to them.
>
> I learned later from Susie that she was listed as an "arrest" while
> Yehudit and I were ONLY "detained." I am struck by the police's total
> arbitrary and capricious behavior in this incident. After having read and
> heard about these types of police actions, and now having experienced it
> first-hand, I can only say that I am saddened by the fact that the police
> force of the Jewish State employs tactics which are unethical in the
> extreme and still has the gall to call itself a democratic country where
> the rule of law prevails. Granted at 60 years old, the country may still
> be young, relatively speaking, but it still has a long way to go before
> it reaches minimum standards of respect for a citizen's civil rights --
> even a brand new citizen.
>
> Regretfully yours,
> Jeff Daube
>
