Kochav HaShahar secretariat denounces police conduct

Tuesday, April 21, 2015, 16:51 On Thursday, April 16 after a failed attempt by police to cause a disturbance, five Kochav HaShahar residents were detained despite the fact that they did not respond to the provocation. The police had expected the residents to respond violently, which would have constituted cause for detention. On Sunday, April 19 the detainees’ remand was extended, despite a lack of progress in the police investigation.
Kochav HaShahar’s secretariat wrote in an announcement publicized on Tuesday, April 21 that, “The secretariat [of Kochav HaShahar] unequivocally denounces the conduct of the police and regards with seriousness the inappropriate use of Arab disguises against residents of the community, an act which poses a danger to security.
“On Thursday, the 28th of Nisan (April 16) the police staged an incident during which they led an Arab shepherd with police detectives disguised as Arabs near Givat Mishcanot Ha’ro’im and the Ma’aleh Shlomo neighborhood adjacent to the community of Kochav HaShahar.
“Simultaneously police and Yassam (Special Forces) Police set up an ambush and detained residents who were summoned to the scene [by another resident concerned for the security of the area], claiming that they had assaulted the Arab and the detectives. Five people were detained. This was a provocation by the police, a particularly serious incident due to the fact that the chairman of the secretariat had initiated a meeting with the commander of the police station and the community police officer in order to confirm that if there were problems they would be solved from the start out of mutual understanding and cooperation,” stressed members of Kochav HaShahar’s secretariat and mentioned that, “The foolish provocation occurred less than 12 hours after the despicable murder of Shalom Yochai Sherki, Hy”d, and the injury of his friend Shira Klein, may she be separated for a long life, and on Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
Residents of Kochav HaShahar note that one of the detainees is the son-in-law of Esther Galia, Hy”d, who was murdered in a terror attack near Kochav HaShahar in November 2002.
The announcement continued: “The provocation was in complete contradiction of the assurance made by the Internal Security Minister before the entire Knesset which stated that the police would not carry out a procedure of this sort with a Jewish community. This is a quiet area. For many years there have not been clashes between residents of the community and the [Arab] population of the nearby villages. The manner in which the police operated only damages and taints the relationships in the area and endangers the community’s residents.”
Kochav HaShahar’s secretariat announced on Tuesday April 21 that it would freeze relations with the police until further notice, and also that Kochav HaShahar residents will hold a protest opposite the Sha’ar Binyamin Police Station on Sunday, April 26 at 18:30.
On Tuesday, April 21 the court ordered the release of two of the five detainees to house arrest. The remand of two other detainees was extended until Friday, April 24. The remand of the minor was also extended. The Attorney General’s office announced that it would file an indictment against all five of the detainees.
Honenu: “We object to the continued persecution of Yehuda and Shomron residents by the Department of Nationalist (Jewish Nationalist) Crime in the Yehuda and Shomron District Police. A provocation of bringing an Arab and police detectives disguised as Arabs in the area of a Jewish community is a serious and dangerous act – and the Internal Security Minister had given an assurance that the police would not carry out procedures such as this.”