13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Having trouble with the link in both Opera and Explorer.

Fri Feb 03, 11:56:00 AM 2006

JoeSettler said...

Maybe it was temporarily down. Seems to be working now.

Fri Feb 03, 02:55:00 PM 2006

Anonymous said...

This looked like a pogrom!! Somehow Olmert will pay. And those police who did this will pay too - somehow!!

Fri Feb 03, 03:54:00 PM 2006

Anonymous said...

there's an alternative backup file link here

http://upload3.putfile.com/videos/3421590399.wmv

Sun Feb 05, 06:00:00 AM 2006

Anonymous said...

Where are the Jewish blogs in galut?No response-well its not happening to me.How sad.

Sun Feb 05, 06:06:00 AM 2006

the sabra said...

why is everyone so concerned with what will happen to olmert and the yassamnikim/magavnikim?

i am more concerned as to what will happen to us. both nationally as an Israeli and a Jew.

Mon Feb 06, 08:52:00 PM 2006

Emmanuel said...

The police officers in the video should be investigated individually, though I can imagine they came into the room pissed after the hooligans on the roof bombarded them with rocks and bricks.

This isn't a systemic problem. Some policemen may have used forced where they shouldn't have. Most of them used force where they should - against a raging, rioting crowd who were there to obstruct justice. Those kids should not have been there to try to prevent the execution of a court order.

Their parents and educators should be investigated.

Tue Feb 07, 11:01:00 PM 2006

JoeSettler said...

Police violence is a very systematic problem.

I was attacked by policemen at a protest while doing nothing more than standing on the sidewalk holding a sign.

I've seen policemen bash up girls doing nothing more than yelling.

The news reported today that the police apparently beat up the wife of a foreign diplomat, perhaps confusing her with an illegal alien.

Today a friend witnessed police beating up someone they arrested. That this person happened to be a very bad person is irrelevant.

Police violence in Israel is not only ingrained in the system it is accepted and looked upon positively.

Wed Feb 08, 01:16:00 AM 2006

JoeSettler said...

Oh, by the way, your call to use bullets on 'rebels' as you call the settlers puts you very low on the humanity totem pole.

Wed Feb 08, 01:17:00 AM 2006

Anonymous said...

To Emmanuel:

All of the available evidence, including video footage and the testimony of reporters on the scene, demonstrates conclusively that rocks were thrown at police officers by only a tiny handful of protestors. Videos widely available on the internet (such as the one here) clearly show that the people brutally attacked by the police were sitting peacefully on the floor, taking no physical action whatsoever against the the police -- neither before they were attacked, or after.

Apparently, Emmanuel, you haven't heard of the concepts of "civil disobedience" or "passive resistance", which are recognized as legitimate forms of protest in the modern Western world outside of Israel -- specifically in the context of obstructing the enforcement of laws that the protestors regard as unjust. (The concept is entirely meaningless ouside of that context, in fact.) But I can't blame you too much, though: You're an Israeli, you see, and therefore suffer from the extreme brainwashing and ignorance that is endemic to Israeli politics, academics, and media. You're a Political Science student, in fact, which makes you all the more susceptible to a particularly twisted approach to the democratic system that is unique to Israel.

In Israel, the people are not educated at all about the fundamental principles of freedom and liberty. Instead, they are taught to obey and give unconditional fealty to a system which they, in their provincial ignorance, erroneously call "Democracy". That is their name for a system which gives the "rule of law" and the dictates of the State total and absolute supremacy, above any and all other considerations -- including individual rights, morality, or one's own conscience. You may have heard of this system before. In the rest of the Western world, it is called "fascism".

Furthermore: Your use of the "rule of law" argument to justify the pogrom in Amona is laughable in the extreme. Illegal building is rampant in Israel, and the vast majority of it is in the Arab sector. There are dozens of entire Arab *towns* whose construction was illegal. There are currently several *thousand* standing demolition orders from the courts against illegal Arab-built structures in the Negev and the Galilee. Almost *none* of these orders are being enforced by the government or the police. Only three years ago, Ehud Olmert, in his final year as Mayor of Jerusalem, participated in the publication of a 170-page study entitled "Illegal Housing in Jerusalem" (http://jcpa.org/jlmbldg.htm), published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. That study concluded that the construction of more than *6000* (sic) unlawful buildings in Israeli Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem had reached "epidemic proportions". The study advised strong action from Israel's law enforcement establishment. Now Olmert, as acting Prime Minister, refuses to even discuss enforcement of the law in regard to illegal buildings in the Israeli Arab sector.

So what "rule of law" are you speaking about, exactly? Why does this so-called "rule of law" demand the destruction of nine houses built by Jews in Amona, but not thousands of houses built by Arabs throughout the country? Why does this "rule of law" apply only to this infinitesimally small fraction of law breakers? I don't suppose it might have something to do with the fact that these people are Jews, and happen to espouse an ideology that you detest?

For people like Olmert and yourself, the "rule of law" is nothing more than a convenient battering ram to persecute people who you don't like. At least have the courage to come out and express your hatred openly, instead of hiding behind phony slogans like the "rule of law".

Wed Feb 08, 02:10:00 AM 2006

JoeSettler said...

Lurker:

Wow! Very good comment.

If I actually had wanted to spend my time writing a response, this is exactly what I would have written.

Wed Feb 08, 02:17:00 AM 2006

Anonymous said...

To Joe S.:

Thanks you. I felt that Emmanuel's outrageous comment demanded a response. If you or anyone else is interested, this thread has continued on his blog, at http://es1982.blogspot.com/2006/02/use-bullets-next-time.html.

Thu Feb 09, 06:23:00 PM 2006

Rafael V. Rabinovich said...

SHOW THEM THIS ONE!!!:

http://www.israelreporter.com/files/video/amonaphotostories/amonatragedy250scenes.wmv

Wed Feb 15, 08:53:00 PM 2006

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