Haifa demonstration against the war, confiscation of signs by the police and mutual exhortations, January 20, 2024 / Yoav Itiel
Live broadcast: the demonstration against the war in Paris Square in Haifa
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The demonstration against the war began today (Saturday) in Paris Square in Haifa, this in the shadow of the petitions in the High Court that were submitted for its existence and after the police refused three different requests to hold the demonstration, which was finally approved last Thursday. "From MGB fighters and other tactical forces, police officers repelled a handful of right-wing demonstrators who sought to mingle among the demonstrators, with a special compound prepared for them across the road and the police separating the groups. MK Ofer Kasif will speak.
"This demonstration is a turning point for breaking the wall of opacity that we built around the war and the right to protest, that the right-wing government built on top of the settler and fascist government," says former MK Issam Makhol, chairman of Hadash, among the leaders of the demonstration. "This demonstration came After a long legal battle in the High Court of Justice led by Hadash and about thirty other Jewish-Arab organizations and it is important against the attempt to shut us down with an artificial consensus around the war on the grounds that everything is done on behalf of the entire public. So that's it, no."
Dov Hanin Haifa demonstration against the war, January 20, 2024/Walla! system, Yoav Itiel
Haifa demonstration against the war, January 20, 2024/Walla! system, Yoav Ityel
Haifa demonstration against the war, January 20, 2024/Walla! system, Yoav Ityel
Regarding a demonstration at this time, when they are still fighting and the abductees have not yet returned, he said that "Precisely now is the time to demonstrate against this government. We see that it does not eliminate Hamas and does not bring back the abductees. Precisely now is the time to get rid of this government and create a new concept based on the fact that it cannot be eliminated People. All the calls for a second Nakba and that there are no innocents in Gaza are calls for war crimes. Precisely now it is clear that there is no military solution and only a political solution will bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Yaniv Ben Shushan, Likud chairman in Haifa who came to demonstrate in Paris Square said he was blocked by the police: "The Israel Police decided to leave Paris Square in the hands of the Hadash terrorist supporters and let them demonstrate freely as they wish," he claimed.
"The police prevent us from coming to Paris square and demonstrating in front of Hadash people.
We are standing here at 7 Palaim Blvd. when the demonstrators are out of our field of vision and when policemen are preventing us with checkpoints and their bodies from getting within sight of the Hadash protesters.
It is a loss of sovereignty of the state and a shame for the police who prevent us from demonstrating in front of them and harm the freedom of movement and expression, which are the lifeblood of democracy.
The message we received is that the policy of inclusion before the 7/10 has not yet stopped."
Ofer Kasif at the Haifa demonstration against the war/Walla! system, Yoav Itiel
Haifa demonstration against the war, January 20, 2024/Walla! system, Yoav Ityel
Following a petition to the High Court, last Thursday the police approved the demonstration against the war in Haifa. After the police refused three different requests to hold the demonstration in Haifa, the Civil Rights Association petitioned the High Court on behalf of Hadash and the Peace Coalition. In response to the petition, the ombudsman announced that she does not accept the position of the police.
During the hearing, Judge Dafna Barak Erez said: "It is impossible to accept that a demonstration is a luxury of Tel Aviv." At the end of the hearing, the police announced that they were retracting their refusal to hold the demonstration in Haifa and that it would be limited to 700 people.
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War of Iron Swords
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