Police will compensate a right-wing activist arrested at the University of Haifa

The event took place on Independence Day in 2017, when the Hadash student body initiated at the University of Haifa, several dozen people held an event to mark the Nakba on campus. The right-wing activist Tom Nissani, head of the activist branch of the “Am Tirzu” movement, “which works to strengthen the Zionist nation of Israel, came to the spot. “, Who also serves as chair of the” Students for the Temple Mount “movement. Nissani, 31, from the Gd Etzion settlement of Nokdim, is not a university student, and he arrived with Israeli flags and “Nakba – Kharta” signs to protest against the conference.

He acknowledged that he also repeated the words in his remarks to the event’s participants, most of them Arabs. “Almost mumbles them, he does not shout and he does not argue with anyone,” stated the judge who watched videos from the incident. But university security guards feared for his safety and the fact that he was provoking – as they say – provocation, and they asked him to leave. Unwilling to go, police were invited to remove him.

At the time, Carmel Ridge Point Commander Roni Cohen, now the commander of Haifa station, arrived. He also thought “the Arabs were dangerous” to Nissani. He wriggled on the witness stand, claimed that Nissani was detained and arrested because he “violated order in a public place, created However, in a cross-examination, he claimed that he had actually saved him and that “he could not be left there, his life had to be protected.”

The judge didn’t believe it either. She stated that if there was a real concern for right-wing activists, the policeman would not come alone, and would not continue to handle the event alone once he realized Nissani was not a “man to talk to.” She noted that the policeman did not ask for further assistance, and continued talking to right-wing activist Nissani, when he saw from the videos that he was causing the policeman to growing anger, in the right-wing reactions of the right-wing activist.

The police officer asked Nissani to stop filming, and he refused to do so, and when the two, along with two university security personnel, entered the room of Lt. Col. Alon Gilboa, the police officer took the phone from Nissani’s hands, and the incident deteriorated into a violent incident between the two, while the security personnel of The university, including the Gd, is plowing the curtains of the room, in order not to succeed Nissani’s companions outside taking pictures of what is going on.

Nissani was then arrested in a confrontation that turned physical in front of the officer, he was taken to the Haifa station, interrogated, and the night made behind bars. The next day, police took him to the city magistrate’s court, where she sought the extension of his arrest in three days, on suspicion of assaulting a police officer while performing his job and interrupting a public servant. Judge Avishai Kaufman released him on a 30-day suspension from Haifa University, and an indictment was never filed.

On this episode, Tom Nissani filed a complaint with the Department of Police Investigations Department, which closed the case against the police officer with a recommendation for disciplinary action. Under this law by the police, the officer is acquitted of the offenses attributed to him which include the use of force against a person and misconduct. “There was no assault or use of force on the part of the officer,” a single Israeli police official to whom the case was referred said, “The officer throughout the incident acted patiently, identified as required several times, even though he was wearing a uniform and was calm.” Nissani did not give up, suing the police in court.

“Don’t mute the lonely person”

Judge Revital Baum accepted the lawsuit against the police. She stated that “the role of the police is not to prevent conflicts at all costs. It is also an impossible action in the complex reality of the State of Israel, where Jews live alongside Arabs as at this time, and in most parts of the country, and unfortunately, love does not flourish, to say the least.”

Baum wondered: “Why do the fact that dozens of people (at least at the conference – at least 11) say that the existence of the State of Israel is a mistake and disaster is not a provocation, and the fact that five people think this opinion is worthless nonsense – is it?” Because “those who feared being violent would rather be at the conference island” and wondered further, “What justification is there to exclude anyone who expresses nonviolent protest because of fear of violent reaction from those who protest against him?”

She stated that the police officer, in his testimony, “expressed his amazement that defending democratic values ​​often required a great deal of resource investment, and argued that it was incumbent upon them to” stop the disruption that is the simplest thing “, stating that” the state’s job is to maintain order Public and for the security of its inhabitants, but this while respecting the basic values ​​of the state – the values ​​of democracy, without which we come. ” She emphasized in the ruling that “in all respects, if there is a fear that an angry mob will attack a person because of their opinions, the right way to act is to stop the angry mob, and not silence the lone person by removing them. This is not the easy way, but it has been stated that ‘we are not easy’ “.

The magistrate also expressed surprise, saying: “How far out of the plaintiff was not simply a forceful silence of a legitimate opinion in Israeli society.” She emphasized that “if a person in a democratic state is allowed to claim that the existence of that state is a mistake and even constitutes that person’s” personal disaster “- and this is the meaning of the conference that the university allowed to hold, another person in that state may claim that the” disaster “is not a disaster. .

She stated that there was no provocation on her part of the right-wing activist Nissani. As Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Arden once said, “the Israeli flag must not be allowed everywhere. This is our national symbol,” Justice Baum also stated: “His protest, however angry he is at the conference, is legitimate – especially when the conference protested against bone The existence of the State of Israel. ” She noted that the police conduct against him “violated his legitimate right to a quiet and nonviolent protest, and even violated the values ​​of the State of Israel’s democracy.”

“For my reasons, it is necessary to state that the person who started the fight in Alon’s office was the policeman, and that the other people in the room – except the prosecutor of course – cooperated to help hide it from the camera,” the judge said. She also stated that the police officer had no grounds to arrest Nissani and no doubt he had grounds to detain him. Baum also believes that “in the long run, such actions will actually achieve the opposite goal, namely: violating public order, when there is no real freedom of expression, and silenced legitimate opinions – people, especially people living in a democratic state, do not agree and their protest becomes more violent and difficult.”

Nissani demanded NIS 30,000 from the police. The judge charged the Israeli police with NIS 9,000 in compensation to the right-wing activist, including his expenses.

“Unfortunately, a world as is customary. In the end you and I will pay the price of a police officer who beat me, lied and arrested me for the night. The police fired him for nothing and gave him a promotion,” he told Walla! NEWS right-wing activist Tom Nissani, referring to the ruling in his favor. “Still, it is very gratifying that this crucial decision is very important for people who are in my position, want to voice a democratic protest and face threats. The judge said the unequivocally: I had a clear right and run over it. I just hope someone at the high ranks of the police learn The verdict in depth, and learned lessons – to teach the police officers their role. ” He added: “The university must also learn from this, that the right to protest against extreme political events is an unquestionable right.”

Police: “Arrested after violating order”

The Israeli police said: “Nearly three years ago, the police were called to the scene by the University of Haifa’s security forces for fear that a civilian was trying to harm the public order. Your request was arrested after violating the order and violating a regulated and approved activity that took place in the area. Evidence of the officer’s activity can be found Both on his acquittal in a single-judge disciplinary proceeding and the Magistrate’s Court order that Mr. Nissani be suspended for 30 days after being brought before a court near the date of the case. ”

“At the same time, we respect the court’s decision, which decided to award much lower compensation than requested in the lawsuit,” it added. “The Israeli police will continue to help allow freedom of expression and protest to anyone legally, all while maintaining public order, public peace, safety and security.”

Attorney Menashe Yado of the Nunani Organization, representing Nissani, said: “This event demonstrates the forgiving attitude of the DIP and, moreover, of the Israeli Police Discipline Division regarding injuries from police officers, and in particular senior civilians. The policeman is acquitted of disciplinary law, although there are films showing The same attacks the plaintiff with the help of two others who are blindsizing. ” The lawyer also stated that “even the court that accepted the claim took a soft hand when it comes to the level of compensation, this case should have charged the police with at least NIS 20,000, and not NIS 9,000, including expenses. We did not say the last word in the case: Beyond the violence, there is a deceitful and false culture here that has gripped the police, in which case a police officer who is a senior police officer who wrote a false report against my client caused his arrest. We are considering our steps to continue. ”