A-G urges draconian punishment for settlers

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By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
March 22, 2005

Jewish settlers and their supporters who block traffic on Israeli highways as a means of protesting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s “disengagement” plan should be thrown in prison for up to 20 years.

That was the recommendation of Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz this week as he and other Justice Department officials scoured the law books for methods of further suppressing opposition to Sharon’s policies.

Mazuz told police officials Monday he viewed disrupting traffic as a violent offense in no way connected to freedom of speech.

His comments and recommendation came after about 100 right-wing demonstrators blocked traffic near Tel Aviv last week to protest Sharon’s plan to forcibly expel the Jews of Gaza and northern Samaria.

But blocking traffic arteries is by no means an uncommon phenomenon in Israel.

Left-wing activists and mobs associated with the Histadrut labor union have on several occasions caused major traffic disruptions in the past.

The most notable incident in recent years was the near total shutdown of the northern coastal town of Haifa during a Histadrut demonstration against planned pension reform by Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

On June 4, 2003, thousands of Histadrut members blocked all traffic in and out of Haifa.

Prior to the disruptive demonstration, local Histadrut chiefs Baruch Zaltz and Yigal Cohen said it would be impossible “to enter or leave the city from the morning through to the afternoon. This will be like a military operation.”

The following year on February 2, the Histadrut publicly threatened to block major traffic arteries throughout the country to protest the government’s refusal to pour more taxpayers’ shekels into corrupt city councils.

No legal action was taken against those involved in these or any similar incidents.

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