Posted on 10/31/2003 11:56:21 AM PST by tubavil
Next Target For Left-Wing: Arutz-7 Internet 13:28 Oct 31, '03 / 5 Cheshvan 5764
Gal'on has asked Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to open a criminal investigation into the operators of Arutz-7's internet site on suspicion of "incitement to murder and racism."
Gal'on honed in on a sentence in an op-ed on Arutz-7's Hebrew site, written by Gil Ronen, a resident of pre-1967 Israel, near Hadera. Gal'on says that his article is a call to "murder hundreds of thousands of Palestinians." Though Arutz-7 does not endorse the opinions it publishes in its op-ed section, it should be noted that the sentence in question was taken out of context, and does not incite to murder. In fact, Ronen writes in the article, "no one will have to take the law into his own hands."
The article's basic assumption is that as there is no chance for reaching peace with the Arabs of Yesha, there is therefore no alternative but to "remove this 'nation' from our midst." Ronen wrote that he does not support transfer, as "the Palestinians are not European Jews, and we are not Germans." Instead, he suggests a "gradual deterioration" in which the war against terrorists expands, including more targeted killings, more house demolitions, and more air raids.
"No one will have to take the law into his own hands," Ronen writes. "It's enough that officers and soldiers interpret their instructions as broadly as possible and employ maximum force." The sentence quoted by MK Gal'on reads, "The only ones who will die will be Palestinians, and whoever doesn't want to die, will be forced to run away."
As is well-known, Ronen is not the first one to have called for a "stronger arm" against the Arabs of Yesha since the onset of the Oslo War over three years ago. Following a wave of Palestinian terrorism in Dec. 2001, for instance, MK Eliezer Cohen (Yisrael Beiteinu) said, "This is war, not just terrorism, and we must fight back accordingly. They are fighting us with all of their resources and weaponry, and we must do the same. Our army knows exactly what to do, and it is time to do it."
Baruch Gordon, manager of Arutz-7's internet department, responded today, "According to the warped definition of democracy professed by the extreme left, nationalist-camp opinions are simply wrong and therefore illegitimate... What MK Gal'on is doing is proof that the left-wing's actions to shut down Arutz-7 Radio because of minor legal technicalities are merely stepping-stones along its ruthless path towards its real goal: the total silencing of the nationalist and traditional camp in Israel."
It is way off base for you to be comparing the contents of a published op-ed opinion with shouting "fire" in a crowded theater. Do you really intend to call for the suppression by force of political speech that you disagree with? That is truly a frightening proposition.
That response avoids the issue. A speaker whose direct speech goads others to commit immediate violence might reasonably be considered to have committed illegal incitement, depending on the specifics of the statement and the capability of the immediate crowd to act in harmful ways exactly as incited by the speaker. An op-ed in a newspaper or on the Internet advocating adoption of a policy by the army, however, can hardly be considered to be incitement, unless you intend to label any speech that you disagree with to be incitement. But, if that is the case, what is to protect you from being on the receiving end of a charge of incitement for merely stating your own views?
I have faith in the legal system. If I was so charged I would be exonerated.
I am not stating that the article that was singled out by someone on the left was, in fact, incitement. I am saying that incitement happens and should be illegal. There is a difference. I am certainly not advocating shutting down the Arutz Sheva website. Quite the contrary, I believe Arutz Sheva radio should be *LEGALLY* licensed.
Based on what? If the law were applied arbitrarily, with the charge levied at the whim of a prosecutor, and with no clear standard for determining whether or not what was charged is actually against the law, then there would be no expectation that you would be exonerated.
A climate where political speech may be labeled as "incitement" at the whim of a political opponent does not provide much basis for having confidence in the legal system.
Against this background, and with no let up in sight, the terrorist-friendly sharon government decides to attack...JEWS!
Yesterday it was A7 radio, tomorrow it will be A7 internet, the next day a Kach web site in America.
It's quite clear what sharon fears most, not genocidal muslim terrorists, but conservative, religious, nationalistic Jews.
True, no arguement here. Pretty much like it is in America or the UK with the liberals in charge.
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