Police ignored court ruling, detainee missed matriculation exam

Wednesday, July 11, 7:27 A., an 18 year old twelfth grader at Ulpanat Tehila in Jerusalem and resident of Ramat Migron for the past year and a half, has already become accustomed to the frequently recurring army and police raids on the outpost and the many detentions all too frequently accompanied by unrestrained violence from the security forces. The cause for detention, almost always, is an accusation of violating a closed military zone order.
Three weeks ago A. thought that the troubles with her residency status were over, after the Jerusalem Magistrate Court recognized her as a permanent resident of Ramat Migron. Permanent residents of the area are exempt from the closed military zone order. Until recently the army used the permanent residency clause only in order not to harm Arabs living in the area, however several months ago the magistrate court accepted the plea of Honenu attorney Itzik Bam, who pleaded that Jews are also permanent residents to whom the order is not applicable, as is specified in the order itself. The police appealed the ruling in the Jerusalem District Court, which rejected the appeal, further strengthening the ruling of the Jerusalem Magistrate Court.
Yesterday A. was proven wrong after the Yassam (Special Forces) Policemen who arrived at the outpost refused to accept the court decision presented to them, detained her and took her to the Sha’ar Binyamin Police Station where she was interrogated on suspicion of violating a closed military zone order and trespassing.
As stated above, yesterday Yassam Policemen arrived at the Ramat Migron outpost where A. was staying with two friends. The policemen informed them that the site is a closed military zone and they must leave. A.’s two friends did leave, however A. stated that she is a permanent resident of the site and as such she is exempt from the order. The policemen asked if she has documentation confirming her claim. A. replied in the affirmative and showed them the court records of the deliberation and the decision of the Jerusalem Magistrate Court from three weeks ago.
According to A. the policemen tried to find any detail in the court records which could refute her claim. When they couldn’t, they contacted their commanding officers and asked what they should do with her. The officers ordered the Yassam Policemen to detain A. and bring her in to the police station for interrogation despite the court ruling which she had presented.
At the station A. was interrogated on suspicion of violating a closed military zone order and trespassing. After several hours the policemen decided to unconditionally release her. Honenu notes that also the claim of trespassing in the area of the outpost is not valid and that the subject has already been ruled on at the Jerusalem Magistrate Court where mention was made that as long as there is no known owner of the land, there is no-one who can make a claim of trespassing. Concerning the area of Ramat Migron there is no known owner claiming ownership of the land.
As a result of the superfluous detention A.. who was forced to miss a preliminary matriculation exam in mathematics, said that she intends to sue the police for false detention.