Free Republic

The European Council decided today to list four persons and two entities under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. "The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians, including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank," the EU stated. "The listed entities are Lehava, a radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group, and Hilltop Youth, a radical youth group consisting of members known for violent acts against Palestinians and their villages in the...

Dozens of right-wing demonstrators associated with the Lehava anti-assimilation organization gathered in the capital Thursday to protest the Jerusalem gay parade now underway. The demonstration was led Lehava chief Bentzi Gopstein, attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Hevron activist and 2015 Yahad candidate Baruch Marzel. “You have no reason to [march] here,” Gopstein told parade participants. “You cannot have a [gay] pride march in the Land of Israel. If you have a problem, we will help you; we will treat you. This is not pride; it is an abomination.” Gopstein claimed the parade offended residents, and said the marchers would not have...

In November, a bilingual Arabic and Hebrew school in Jerusalem was set on fire and vandalized by a group of right-wing hard-liners. The arsonists scrawled slogans such as “Death to Arabs,” “You can’t coexist with cancer,” and “Enough with assimilation” on the walls of a classroom in the school, which strives to set an example for Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. In the weeks that followed, Israeli authorities detained 21 suspects connected to the Lehava extremist group on charges of incitement to hatred. Three youths, two 18-year-olds and a 20-year-old, have been charged with carrying out the act. Now, after remarks by Israeli...