Israel brakes the anti-war squard in demostration

More than 1, 000 Palestinian citizens of Israel have
been arrested by the Israeli police since the
country's military offensive in Gaza began in early
July, according to a lawyer representing a number of
the detainees.
While some have been arrested for protesting the
Israeli incursion into Gaza , dozens are currently
being held without charge . Many say they have been
detained based on policemen' s "lies " , while some
have been beaten to the point of needing medical
care.
Maisa Arshid, an attorney for dozens of the
detainees, said that the crackdown on Palestinian
citizens is only getting worse, with 20 to 30
Palestinians getting picked up every week in the
Nazareth area alone .
" All of them are accused of participating in illegal
demonstrations, " Arshid told Al Jazeera, adding that
" part of these demos were permitted by the police
themselves" .
In many cases, the Israeli authorities have presented
no evidence that the accused have participated in a
protest other than a police officer 's word . Arshid also
said that the police frequently hold people for short
periods without registering their detention , likely
putting the number of those who have been picked
up by the police even higher than 1, 000 .
IN VIDEO: Anti-war Israelis protest over Gaza
operation
When the wave of arrests began earlier in July,
Palestinian citizens were detained and quickly
released while others were placed under house
arrest, or ordered to do community service . But as
Israel's assault on Gaza has gone on , Palestinian
citizens have been subject to much longer
detainments .
This week , Arshid visited a group of detainees who
had been held without charge for nine days . " Each
day the court is delaying their hearing ," she said,
adding that hearings initially scheduled for Sunday ,
were pushed back to Tuesday .
This way of prolonging their detentions has a chilling
effect on demonstrations against the war in Gaza
and " terrorise the population" into silence , Arshid
argued . " If people in the street know that people
have been arrested for nine days , it will prevent
protest ."
Israeli police provide a security presence when
Jewish -Israeli leftists protest against the war. But
these activists are facing increasingly violent
attacks from their countrymen.
Moriel Rothman- Zecher attended Tel Aviv' s most
recent demonstration against the ongoing Israeli
operation in Gaza, which drew approximately 5 ,000
protesters . There were only a few hundred right-
wing counter-demonstrators , Rothman -Zecher told
Al Jazeera , " but they were really , really energetic " .
Israeli police stood between the two groups ,
preventing any potential clashes, but when the
protest ended, right- wingers confronted the anti - war
protesters on the street . They shouted at the
demonstrators , calling them " smelly traitors " . A
counter- protester who was carrying an Israeli flag
began to beat someone with the flagstick , while
another started hitting an anti -war protester on the
head with a crutch .
Rothman -Zecher said that the right wing "desire for
violence" is not new. " But there 's a new level of
acceptability ," he said .
He used the Jerusalem Day protests - when right
wing Israelis march to mark the " reunification" of the
city - as an example . In the past, it "was nationalistic
and aggressive " but leftists would be shocked to
hear right wingers openly chant " Death to the Arabs" ,
Rothman -Zecher said . " It was under the surface but
it was still surprising. Now it 's become the baseline. "
Although no one is organising the counter-
demonstrations - and Rothman- Zecher pointed out
that they tend to come from poor, marginalised
communities - he argued that Israeli leaders are
responsible for right wing violence.
" When the leaders of the country call openly for
revenge and violence, of course it becomes kosher ,"
he said. He added: " You have members of Knesset
calling for population transfer, [a former ] member of
Knesset [boasting ] that [he] killed Arabs… I believe
very strongly that discourse shapes reality ."
RELATED : West Bank protests over Gaza turn deadly
Palestinian citizens have recently also been arrested
for "incitement " for calling for demonstrations
against the ongoing Israeli offensive . Adalah, the
Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, points
out that these citizens " were arrested even before
any demonstrations began" .
Among them was Rafaat Awaishi, who Israeli police
placed under house arrest without a hearing , after he
posted a call on Facebook for people to join protests
against Israel' s assault on Gaza .
Noting that Awaishi's hearing was scheduled for July
13, "the same day that the police- imposed house
arrest is to end " , Adalah called the police-imposed
detention a " denial of due process" .
The conditions detainees face also seem intended to
deter protests . According to Arshid, several of her
clients have been beaten while in custody and
needed medical treatment for their injuries. During an
interrogation , police allegedly removed a detainee' s
kuffiyeh [traditional Palestinian scarf] , urinated on it,
and then put it back on the man 's neck , Arshid said.
The arrests and detentions seem to be part of a
broader crackdown on dissent and freedom of
expression . On Wednesday, the Israeli Knesset
heard a bill that proposes to outlaw "discrimination
against soldiers in uniform" the Jerusalem Post
reported .
Pnina Tamnu - Shata, the Knesset Member who
presented the bill, pointed to protests against Israel's
Operation Protective Edge as proof that Israel " must
set limits for words of incitement against soldiers.
Not everything is allowed in the name of
democracy " .
In a press release , ACRI stated that " only Arab
students have been punished , even though the social
forums are simmering with racist comments by
Jewish students , which raises a concern that the
heads of the institutions are acting according to
patriotic and emotional motives that do not align with
their professional obligations" .
Saher Jeries is a 22 -year -old marketing and
advertising student who lives in Haifa . He said he
was at a protest there , standing in the back , when
police officers began to beat him . He and other
protesters were put on a bus where they were held
for six hours before they were driven to the police
station for interrogation.
During questioning, Jeries found that the Israeli
police were not only trying to control the discourse
about Gaza , but also seemed intent on reshaping his
identity . "They said to me , 'You' re Christian , why are
you doing things like this ?' As though I' m not part of
the [Palestinian ] people, " Jeries said.