lennart
14-01-04, 13:57
Rabbi on trial for impeding demolition of illegal J'lem homes
By The Associated Press
A U.S.-born rabbi went on trial in Jerusalem on Wednesday on charges of blocking Israeli bulldozers that had come to demolish Palestinian homes built in the capital without proper permits.
Arik Ascherman, on trial along with two Israeli activists, does not deny blocking the bulldozers, but said the demolitions were illegal and he had a duty to stop them.
The case drew attention to the simmering conflict between Israel and the Palestinians over control of Jerusalem.
Israel claims the entire city, including the eastern sector, which it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, as its eternal capital. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem - home to virtually all the city's Arab residents and the location of Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites - as the capital of a future state.
Jerusalem's Jewish population was more than double the Arab population of 221,900 at the end of 2002, according to statistics released last month by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. But the Arab population is growing more than three times faster than the Jewish population, the group says.
Amid this demographic backdrop, Ascherman's group, Rabbis for Human Rights, says Israel systematically discriminates against Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem. Those residents - who are eligible for city services - rarely receive building permits without paying bribes or agreeing to be an informer to Israeli security services.
Ascherman was charged with blocking police from demolishing homes in East Jerusalem in two incidents last year. His co-defendants, Shai Eliezer Tzvi and Omer Ori, were charged with joining Ascherman in the second incident. Despite the protests, both houses were demolished.
"Our defense is basically that because the policy is illegal and immoral, that it's a Jewish and Zionist duty to stand in front of the bulldozers," Ascherman said in an interview.
Prosecutor Shlomit Landes told the judge in Jerusalem Magistrate Court that the activists had illegally prevented police from carrying out orders, and that the legality of home demolitions was not the issue before the court.
Simcha Weintraub, a Conservative rabbi from Brooklyn, presented a letter signed by more than 300 American rabbis in support of Ascherman.
If convicted, the three men could face fines, community service and up to three years in prison.
The case was continued until next month.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/383143.html
By The Associated Press
A U.S.-born rabbi went on trial in Jerusalem on Wednesday on charges of blocking Israeli bulldozers that had come to demolish Palestinian homes built in the capital without proper permits.
Arik Ascherman, on trial along with two Israeli activists, does not deny blocking the bulldozers, but said the demolitions were illegal and he had a duty to stop them.
The case drew attention to the simmering conflict between Israel and the Palestinians over control of Jerusalem.
Israel claims the entire city, including the eastern sector, which it captured in the 1967 Six-Day War, as its eternal capital. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem - home to virtually all the city's Arab residents and the location of Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites - as the capital of a future state.
Jerusalem's Jewish population was more than double the Arab population of 221,900 at the end of 2002, according to statistics released last month by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. But the Arab population is growing more than three times faster than the Jewish population, the group says.
Amid this demographic backdrop, Ascherman's group, Rabbis for Human Rights, says Israel systematically discriminates against Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem. Those residents - who are eligible for city services - rarely receive building permits without paying bribes or agreeing to be an informer to Israeli security services.
Ascherman was charged with blocking police from demolishing homes in East Jerusalem in two incidents last year. His co-defendants, Shai Eliezer Tzvi and Omer Ori, were charged with joining Ascherman in the second incident. Despite the protests, both houses were demolished.
"Our defense is basically that because the policy is illegal and immoral, that it's a Jewish and Zionist duty to stand in front of the bulldozers," Ascherman said in an interview.
Prosecutor Shlomit Landes told the judge in Jerusalem Magistrate Court that the activists had illegally prevented police from carrying out orders, and that the legality of home demolitions was not the issue before the court.
Simcha Weintraub, a Conservative rabbi from Brooklyn, presented a letter signed by more than 300 American rabbis in support of Ascherman.
If convicted, the three men could face fines, community service and up to three years in prison.
The case was continued until next month.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/383143.html