The disengagement in Chomesh
Photo: Hagai Ahron
Gush Katif (Archives)
Photo: AFP
High Court screwed up
Op-ed: Sweeping pardon to disengagement offenders paves way for amnesty to any lawbreaker
“The disengagement
was legal? The Nazis also claimed that they acted by law and merely followed orders, and let no one tell me that such comparisons are forbidden. Those who carried out the disengagement plan should be put on trial while everyone who resisted should get a citation.”
The above quote marks the gratitude to the State of Israel expressed by Moshe Leshem, who was granted a pardon and had his criminal record of 16 disengagement-related offences erased. So do you still think that the pardon granted to every single disengagement-related offender was justified?
Gaza Pullout
High Court determines law that expunges criminal records of hundreds of people arrested during 2005 disengagement largely symbolic, promotes reconciliation
Indeed, the Gaza disengagement was a difficult episode. And yes, it is possible that some people were detained for no reason, or that criminal records were ascribed too easily to those who went a little overboard with their painful protest. However, one does not correct one injustice by resorting to a different injustice.
Just like 400 people should not be detained indiscriminately, 400 criminal records should not be erased at once without even looking into the details of each case. In practice, the High Court of Justice approved a highly contemptuous act towards all government systems.
First, there’s contempt to the justice system: After all, wasn’t it possible to look into each case separately and make a decision accordingly? Why do we even have judges?
We also want a pardon
Then there’s disdain for the police and prosecutors: Why did they work and make decisions if everything was dumped in the garbage at once? There’s also disdain for the legislator, whose laws don’t hold water.
This decision also holds the notion of a pardon in contempt, making it a rubber stamp with one sweeping gesture. There’s also contempt for IDF soldiers (or if you ask people like Leshem, these are the soldiers of a wholly different army.)
Finally, there’s contempt for our settler brothers. Look who you’re being compared to! After all, who was recently granted a sweeping pardon? That’s right, Hamas terrorists released for lack of other choice in order to save Gilad Shalit from hell. Is this what you wanted? To be compared to our worst enemies?
Those who think that “ideology” is an exemption certificate reserved for the settlers alone are wrong. Keep this in mind when Arabs come out and riot because of a 60-year bout of discrimination, when haredim resist the military draft by force, or when regular folks become fed up and refuse to pay taxes or guard rioting settlers. Because we too want a sweeping pardon. There, the High Court of Justice approved it.
