Demonstration in Jerusalem: “Let Meir attend his son’s brit”

Saturday, April 2, 2016, 23:42 In Jerusalem, on the evening of Saturday, April 2, after Shabbat, approximately 30 relatives of Meir Ettinger demonstrated at the String Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem in protest of his administrative detention. The protesters called on the authorities to allow Ettinger participate in the brit milah of his firstborn son, which is expected to take place on Monday, April 4. The protesters held signs reading “Release Meir” and “Let Meir attend his son’s brit”.
At the protest, Meir Ettinger’s brother, Yehezkel, said that, “We demonstrated this evening to demand that my brother Meir be allowed to participate in his firstborn son’s brit milah. My brother has rights. My brother has been held in remand for approximately eight months already, [most of the time] in solitary, without a trial and only because of his opinions. This detention must be put to an end.”
At 10:00 A.M. on Sunday, April 3, the Be’er Sheva District Court is expected to rule on the petition filed by Honenu Attorney Sima Kochav on behalf of Ettinger, requesting that the Prison Service be ordered to allow him leave for several hours to attend his son’s brit milah.
Ettinger has been under administrative detention since early August 2015 and has been held in solitary since October 7, 2015. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon signed the order for the administrative detention, which was authorized on September 20, 2015 by the Lod District Court. At the end of the first period of administrative detention, following the recommendation of the Jewish Department of the ISA, Yaalon signed a new four-month order extending the administrative detention. On February 23, 2016 Central District Court Judge Avraham Tal approved the order.
Ettinger is being held in solitary in a separate wing and is permitted to speak by telephone to only some of his closest relatives. On January 18 Ettinger went on a 17-day hunger strike in protest of his remand conditions.