Israel 'tearing itself to pieces with unprecedented hate'
Photo: Dana Kopel
Anti-incitement demonstration to take place Saturday night
After Elor Azaria was convicted of manslaughter, there has been much incitement to violence against the military judges and the IDF chief of staff; at 8pm in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, demonstrators will call for solidarity; mother of slain teenager who will attend: 'We must remember that that which we have in common is larger than the things that divide us.'
At 8pm on Saturday night, a demonstration is to take place against incitement to violent against the IDF chief of staff and the panel of judges who convicted Sgt. Elor Azaria of manslaughter in the killing of the incapacitated Palestinian terrorist, Abed al Fatah a-Sharif, in March.
Amongst those expected to participate are Capt. (res.) Ziv Shilon, who was critically wounded in a 2012 terror attack on the Gaza border fence and lost his hand, and the families of the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped and murdered in the West Bank in 2014.
Both before and after the verdict was announced on Wednesday, some 400 protestors rioted and clashed with police outside the IDF's Tel Aviv headquarters. At least four of the protesters were arrested for disrupting the peace, with one also being suspected of attacking a police officer. Channel 2 aired footage of some protesters chanting "Gadi, Gadi beware, Rabin's looking for a friend," referring to the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated.
Police clashed with protesters on Wednesday when Azaria was convicted. (Photo: Reuters)
The three judges on the panel of the military court that convicted Azaria (Central Command Chief Justice Col. Maya Heller, Col. Carmel Wahabi and Lt. Col Yaron Sitbon) and the chief military prosecutor in the case (Lt. Col. (res.) Nadav Weissman) have all been assigned security details from the IDF amid fears of violent reprisals of angry supporters of the soldier. The Israel Police arrested two persons on suspicion violent incitement online against the judges on Thursday. Further such incitement has been rife on social media.
The families of the three kidnapped and murdered teenagers are to attend on Saturday. L-R: Eyal Yifrach, Gil-Ad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel (Photo: Shaul Golan)
The incitement to violent against IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot resulted in public letters of support from dozens of reservist battalion commanders, Eisenkot's predecessor, Lt. Gen. (res.) Benny Gantz, and the Association for Former Members of Sayeret Matkal.
Eisenkot (L) called to respect the IDF's court system during Azaria's (R) trial. (Photos: Motti Kimchi and Yair Sagi)
Shilon, the officer who was wounded in Gaza, explained his decision to participate in the demonstration in a long post to his Facebook page overnight Thursday. He wrote in part that he felt that "our nation is divided, pained, hating, disappointed, discouraged." He quoted his 70-year-old father as saying, "I've not seen hatred in the country like this in my life." Shilon shared that he retreated to his room and began to weep.
"I cried for the nation of Israel that is tearing itself to pieces with unprecedented hate," Shilon wrote. "I cried for the hands that I left in Gaza, and I asked myself, perhaps for the first time in my life, if it was worth it to fight for a people who hates itself? I cried for the reality that my daughter Shira will grow up in, for the friends in her class whose parents 'won't send (them) to the army." Oh, how it hurt me to hear the statements today, unrelated to the political agenda, everything is simply full of hate! What happened to us, the nation of Israel?"
The officer concluded that he would be present at the demonstration on Saturday night "with a huge sign that calls for solidarity and mutual love and for returning the center of our power that is crumbling: our unity. I call on all of you, right, left, religious, secular, those who aren't Jewish, politicians, artists, regular people, citizens of Israel: Come help me write the sign, come embrace our country—she's bleeding!"
Ziv Shilon asked, 'What happened to us, the nation of Israel?' (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
Bat Galim Shaer, the mother of Gil-Ad Shaer, one of the three teenagers murdered in 2014, joined in Shilon's call to the public: "At moments of weakness, we must remember that that which we have in common is larger than the things that divide us. This is an opportunity to prove that we have the potential to be united, even when the days are tough, and perhaps particularly when we go through the not-easy days."
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit instructed the Israel Police to investigate incitement to violence against the IDF chief of staff this past week. Supreme Court President Miriam Naor also condemned the wave of incitement against the military judges, writing that it "endangers the rule of law and democracy."
