Grossman: Police oppressing Left's protests

Following court backing, Left returns to Sheikh Jarrah: More than 300 demonstrators arrived Friday afternoon at the east Jerusalem neighborhood in order to protest against Jewish residents' entry into local houses.

The protestors included prominent author David Grossman, who slammed the police's conduct against left-wing activists in the past few weeks. "There is a sort of eagerness among the Israel Police to attack protestors from the Left," he said.

Grossman added, "We don't see such responses against riots by settlers, who conduct pogroms in Palestinian villages. There the response is well-measured, and this is simply intolerable."

The left-wing protestors arrived for their weekly Sheikh Jarrah rally only one day after the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled that their demonstrations were legal.

In a discussion Thursday on indictment filed against 18 activists arrested during a rally in the neighborhood, the judge ruled that the protestors did not need a license and that the police had no reason to disperse them to begin with. He noted that the demonstration turned illegal the moment the activists began rioting.

The leftists arrived at the neighborhood holding signs reading, "Discrimination jeopardizes all of us." They chanted, "Settlers, settlers, come out of the houses immediately," and planted olive trees in the area.

They were faced by a small group of protestors from the Popular Jewish Front organization, who expressed their support for the Jewish residents.

Grossman said during the rally, "It's obvious that what is happening here is a symptom of what has been happening for more than 40 years in all the occupied territories. The State is using all the systems it can use – the army, the economy and the police – and is doing all it can to transfer the Palestinians."

Grossman warned in a conversation with Ynet that what was happening in Sheikh Jarrah would only complicate the situation even more and make any future peace agreement impossible.

Rightist: We don't need license as well

Knesset Member Ilan Ghilon (Meretz) also attended the rally. "The settlers are claiming that they own 28 houses here," he said, "but all the Palestinians wearing keys on the necks can together prove their ownership of 28,000 houses, and perhaps even 280,000 and more."

Ghilon stressed that the situation in the neighborhood was complicated and promised to continue demonstrating. "I don't see any solution here. It's not a matter of weeks and not a matter of two weeks… On the one hand there is a court order, and on the other hand there is no justice. We have wandered into a situation which must be solved, and if that doesn't happen, the entire right of return issue will be legitimized."

Ron Pundak, the director-general of the Peres Center for Peace, also slammed the entry of Jews into Arab neighborhoods.

"I think that we, as people seeking to eventually reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians, should say that Jews' entry into Arab neighborhoods hurts not only the Arab individual, but also the chance to obtain peace. At the end of the day we will have to reach a partition agreement, and Jewish settlements in the heart of Arab neighborhoods, like the one here, are an attempt to sabotage peace," he said.

A small group of right-wing protestors faced the left-wing demonstrators, covered with flags of Israel, and expressed their support for the security forces and Jewish residents. Right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir explained that they had arrived to protest against the activity of the "delusional" leftist group.

"They are talking about 'stopping the occupation', but what about their houses in (the Jerusalem neighborhoods of) Rehavia and Talbiyeh? Is that not occupation? Jerusalem is ours and the Land of Israel is all ours. We received it from the Holy one blessed be He," Ben-Gvir said.

Ben Gvir addressed the Magistrate's Court ruling that the Sheikh Jarrah protests were legal, saying: "We thought about asking for a license to hold a demonstration, but after the court ruling we decided we don't have to. What leftists are allowed to do we can do too."

Yonatan Yosef, a spokesman for the Jewish settlement in the Simeon the Righteous neighborhood compound, told Ynet that Jews would enter the rest of the houses in the near future.

"It's a matter of three to four years maximum," he said. "There are 48 houses here. It's undergoing legal discussions and has already been approved. At the moment, most of the tenants here are defined as "statutory tenants", but they don't want to pay rent. Those who won't pay will eventually be removed from the houses by the Execution Office."