Kids in Jail - Update

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your support and encouragement of our efforts to free Chaya. We have been flooded with mail and phone calls expressing outrage and offering help. Please forgive us if we didn't reply to you individually, there's just no time.

We would like to update you on our work in this struggle.

We realize many of you may not have the time to read this entire email, so we will summarize it first and then add more detail below for those interested. We strongly suggest you read on and find out what is REALLY happening in Israel today.

A. Legal Lowlights:

Chaya's case is now being used as a legal precedent to incarcerate other protesters, including children, until the end of their legal proceedings. Thus it is now more vital than ever to fight Chaya's case and challenge this horrifying state of affairs.

1) 2 other young girls join us in the case.

2) After a month in jail, the girls are still considered a "danger to public peace".

3) Freedom of speech in " the only democracy in the Middle East"? Think again!

4) The Probation Service and the Prosecution proposed the girls be released into a kibbutz. When they argued that this might entail compromising their religious beliefs - the prosecutor insisted they would have to choose between leaving the prison and compromising. It would be "educational" for them, she argued. No, I am NOT making this up!

BE. PR Highlights:

1) Attendance at a special meeting with the Knesset Committee. Members outraged at the situation.

2) Posters put up in Jerusalem, Yehudah and the Shomron to protest the injustice - see link below.

3) Rounds of TV, radio, and newspaper interviews conducted in Israel.

4) Formation of The Committee for the Prisoners of Zion in Zion.

5) Petitions.

More Detailed Accounts:

News from the legal front

We have started the second round in the legal battle. In this round, parents of two other girls - Moriah Goldberg age 13 (!!!) and Pnina Ashkenazi age 16 - have decided to join our case. Moriah and Pnina were arrested at the same demonstration, and were jailed at the same time as Chaya.

Our goal in this round of proceedings is to get a wider panel of judges to hear our case in the Supreme Court. We have filed another appeal to the lower court, claiming that a month in prison was enough of a "lesson" to insure that the girls will not return to road-blocking activities again. We asked the court to release them into our custody under full house arrest. We brought in precedents from the Supreme Court decisions where the Supreme Court released rapists, armed robbers and drug dealers to house arrest - even those who were re-arrested for repeating similar crimes WHILE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE UNDER HOUSE ARREST. The judge refused our petition, claiming that the "danger to public peace" would be too great if the girls are released. Rape, armed robbery and drugs apparently are less dangerous to public peace than standing on the sidewalk to protest!! Here are some "gems" from the court protocol:

1. Here are the words of the state prosecutor Ms.Karni Davis, explaining the reasons for keeping these dangerous to public criminals behind bars: "If this court releases the accused to their village to complete house arrest, even if they learned their lesson, and even if they adhere to the house arrest - this is not enough. These girls will continue their protest from home. The prosecution believes that if the girls are released back to their villages, they will talk to other people there, tell them their stories and cause other people to participate in similar demonstrations. Therefore, the danger to public peace still exists, even if they are under full house arrest."

This, from the mouth of a State prosecutor in the only democracy in the Middle East. It is now illegal to talk. No, I am not making this up - it is a direct quote from the protocol of the court from 27.07.2005 proceeding #000917/05 in the case # 001487/05 in Tel Aviv youth court.

2. It doesn't end there. It gets better. Probation services and the prosecution proposed a "humane" solution to release the girls from prison. "We can arrange for them to go to a kibbutz". The girls turned down this offer. When asked by the judge why, they explained that the kibbutz would be very far from home, so they would rarely see their families. No less important, the religious level of most of the religious kibbutzim is not at the level they keep. Here is the State prosecutor's response: "The accused have to decide between remaining in Maasiyahu prison or being in the kibbutz. I am certain they will choose the kibbutz, even if this means that they'll have to exercise more caution regarding the fulfillment of their religious needs. THIS WILL NOT CAUSE DAMAGE. ON THE CONTRARY, IT WILL BE EDUCATIONAL".

What the prosecutor is telling 13 year old Moriah and 14 year old Chaya and the world, is that if they want to leave prison soon - they have to be ready to compromise on their religious observance!!!

When I heard this, I could not sit quietly anymore. I got up and shouted that I couldn't believe my ears! "In Communist Russia in 1930's the State took away the children of the "enemies of the People" for "re-education". I cannot believe the State of Israel is doing the same in 2005!" Well, the judge ordered me removed from the courtroom.

If you find all of this hard to believe - I'll be happy to fax you the Hebrew original. We are working on setting up a site where we will post all the legal documents relating to the case.

News regarding the public awareness campaign

1. We participated in a special session of the Knesset Committee for the Protection of Children in Israel. Members of the committee, from MK Gila Finkelstein (Mafdal) on the right to MK Ran Cohen (Meretz) on the left were visibly shaken by both the legal absurdity of this case and by the treatment of the girls inside the prison. MK Ran Cohen said that if they were not released by the end of the week, the entire committee - 5 MKs - will visit the prison once a week. MK Gila Finkelstein was outraged by the obvious discrimination against the girls. She demanded an explanation from the police representative as to why a 14 year old is in prison, while not one member of the Histadrut, who block the roads to get salary increases, are ever arrested. She promised to visit the girls on Thursday, July 28. After the session we approached a number of MKs who agreed to sign the petition demanding the girls' release.

2. We pasted 500 posters throughout Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem. The posters, entitled "Sharon can sleep peacefully - the enemies of the Nation are behind bars", include pictures, a brief summary of the legal proceedings and a request for help to continue the struggle. We would like to raise $ 3,000 to conduct the next stage of poster campaign throughout Israel. You can see the poster at http://koly.co.il/pics/girls.jpg

3. We have appeared on numerous TV and radio stations in Israel, bringing the plight of our girls into the public eye and explaining the threat every citizen of Israel faces following the legal precedent set in this case. The case generated a strong response from both right and left, including lawyers for 'Peace Now" who condemned the arrest.

4. We have spoken to a number of other parents whose children are held in jail for similar "crimes" and an idea was born to form a committee that would represent all of us, in front of both the public and the state systems. The response was favorable, and the initial meeting of all the parents will be called for very soon.

5. We will send out a petition demanding the release of the girls. The petition should be faxed to all of the Supreme Court judges. We want to flood them with petitions and send them a message that the public is troubled by the abuse of the basic human right that this case represents. Stay tuned for this e-mail.

We will continue our struggle for the freedom of our children, and we need your help desperately. Please send your contributions to:

Moshe Belogorodsky
House # 310
Shilo 44830
Israel

For tax-deductible contributions please send your checks to

Am Yisrael Chai Foundation ( please mark on the check "freedom for Chaya")
6 Hazel Place
Woodmere, N.Y. 11598

Thru the mesirut nefesh of these girls may we speed the Redemption of the Jewish People.

Kids in Jail

The following message has been distributed by the parents of a 14 year old girl detained until the conclusion of legal proceedings

July 23, 2005
Dear Friends,

I am writing you in connection with my 14 year old daughter Chaya who has spent the past 3 weeks of her summer vacation in jail. No, no, she hasn't murdered anyone. Nor did she steal anything, assault anyone or sell drugs. All she did was go to a demonstration in " the only democracy in the middle east". Here is how it happened.

On 22 Sivan 5765 {29.06.05} Chaya decided to lend moral support to her friends who went to protest Ariel Sharon's plan to expel Jews. What follows is a direct quote from the official indictment filed against Chaya. She is accused of standing on a sidewalk while her friends proceeded to block traffic. After her friends were arrested a policewoman asked Chaya to leave the area. Chaya refused, saying that she wasn't doing anything illegal, that she had every right to stand on "every inch of the Land of Israel". The policewoman, unimpressed, warned Chaya that if she didn't leave immediately she will be arrested. To which Chaya replied: "So, shut up and arrest me then".

That's it. This is the case that the State of Israel has against Chaya. And, because Chaya participated in a similar demonstration once before, the State prosecutor asked the juvenile court to remand Chaya into police custody UNTIL THE END OF LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HER - a process that can last for MONTHS!! What is truly unbelievable is than this unprecedented request was granted.

Judge Dalya Korn wrote a 10 page dissertation about the danger to society inherent in Chaya's disregard towards the law passed in the Knesset (Sharon's expulsion law). That, combined with the fact that Chaya participated in a similar "unlawful" demonstration before, has made her into a REAL PUBLIC DANGER, thus justifying her imprisonment until the end of the legal process.

To understand the severity of the above decision one must know that, as a rule, an average ADULT criminal - be he a thief, rapist, or a drug dealer - is never kept in jail until the end of proceedings. Even if he is a repeat
offender, and even if he repeats the same crime while he's awaiting his trial!! The worst they usually get slapped with is a house arrest. And juvenile offenders are treated even more leniently.

The above holds true for all criminals, except for those whose crimes are "IDEOLOGICALLY BASED". And, according to the State prosecutor's words, herein lies Chaya's true danger to the society. you heard it right. What is even more outrageous is that the judge agreed!!

Shocked and outraged at this clearly political ruling we appealed the decision. Our appeal went all the way to the Supreme Court of Israel. Judge Procaccia, who heard the case, upheld the decision. The only leniency and compassion that comrade Procaccia agreed to show Chaya was that she could be released from jail to a house arrest - BUT NOT TO HER PARENTS' HOME.

Ignoring the fact that neither of the parents has any family in Israel ( we are both immigrants- made aliyah from the US, so we and our daughter Chaya are American citizens), comrade Procaccia declared that Chaya must be sent "far away from this area of volatile emotions if she wants to get out of jail".

The most outrageous part of her decision was her agreement with the prosecution that Chaya represents a "danger to the society because of her ideological motivation". This is coming from a judge who had absolutely no problems releasing not only common criminals, but even terrorists with blood on their hands!!

Over the past few months alone Israeli government released hundreds of these beasts, and even though appeals for filed against this release, Procaccia and co. upheld the decision of the government. She never made the removal of these beasts from the "area of volatile emotions" a condition for their release. They were allowed to go back home. Comrade Procaccia is sure THEY won't be dangerous to our society anymore.

Just in case you think that this may have been some kind of a judicial freak mishap - don't. What is happening in Israel right now is a FULL COOPERATION between the justice system and the ruling clique aimed at
breaking any minimal resistance to the proposed expulsion of Jews. There is no other way to explain comrade Procaccia's decision to keep Chaya in jail, because the maximum punishment that Chaya faces on these charges, if convicted, would be some monetary fine. And to await this punishment she must stay in jail!!

What is it like for a 14 year old to be in jail? Well, for the first week - including Shabbat - Chaya was kept in solitary confinement. She was not allowed to shower or call home. We could not send her clean clothes. The
food she was given was not on the level of kashrut she could eat.

For the first two weeks she was not allowed to have a fan in her cell - that's in the stifling, muggy Ramle summer, with temperatures reaching the high 90's. She is bored to tears and immobilized by the heat. Once a week she has to go through the degrading procedure of her cell being searched, with male jailers rummaging through all her personal belongings. She is not allowed out of her cell in the evenings, which means she has to eat her Friday night meal in the darkness of her cell.

As of now we are not allowed to bring her any food from the outside, which means she gets almost no fruits or vegetables. We are only permitted to visit her for a half hour every week. This is how this young girl is being forced to spend her summer vacation - and I could go on and on.

My telephone numbers in Israel are:
home 972-2-994-7673
cell 972-52-444-3929
My e-mail address is ydf@013.net.il

Q&A On The Graves in Gush Katif

The Israeli gov't intends to dig out all Jewish graves currently in the Gaza Strip and transfer them into pre-1967 Israel (AKA the green line).

Q: Doesn't it make sense to move the graves over?
A: No. It is a basic human right to know that once you're buried, your grave will not be moved at every politician's whim and fancy.

Q: But the Arabs will surely not leave the graves alone? And how will the families be able to visit?
A: That might be true. However, we should demand that those graves will be treated with respect and that the families will be allowed to visit them.

Q: How can we demand anything? Israel is withdrawing unilaterally and cannot demand a thing.
A: Israel can demand that basic human rights be kept, regardless of whether its actions are unilateral or bilateral.

Q: And if the Arabs won't agree?
A: Supposedly we're going to be talking peace with those same Arabs? How can we talk peace if we can't even leave our GRAVES there in peace?

Q: But how can we expect Arabs NOT to violate the graves? Just look at what happened to the Mount of Olives Cemetery. (The Mount of Olives Cemetery is the most revered of Jewish cemeteries and has graves dating back to around 1000 BCE. That cemetery was under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967 and the graves there were desecrated, with gravestones being used for army camps, latrines and other important Jordanian building projects)
A: We can expect that any human being will keep the basic human right for decent burial. There are Jewish cemeteries in Egypt, Syria, Poland and Germany as well, which we are not moving anywhere.

Q: You're really expecting Arabs not to desecrate non-Muslim graves put there by a conquering force?
A: There is already a cemetery in the Gaza strip of British soldiers who died fighting in the area in both world wars. It might sometimes be desecrated, as are other cemeteries worldwide, however generally it is up kept and is open for visits.

Q: This wouldn't be the first time graves are transferred from place to place
A: True, but this would be the first time bodies which had been given proper burial are being dug up and moved only because of politics.

Q: The Chief Rabbinate of Israel said it is against religious law to keep the graves there? How can you say otherwise?
A: The Chief Rabbinate of Israel also suggested moving the graves over to the Mount of Olives. How can the Chief Rabbinate make sure that those graves will never be desecrated again? Shouldn't the Chief Rabbinate suggest a better place then?

Q: What would be a better place?
A: If we assume that every piece of land that is under contention would not be safe for burial then that would rule out anywhere in the Land of Israel. Additionally, it would preclude any cemetery worldwide which had been desecrated in the past and anywhere there is a Muslim community which might object to the new abomination in their midst. The search is still on.