Thursday, July 14, 2016, 16:59 Last week Aharon Epstein, an Efrat resident in his late
Screenshot of
Facebook status
20’s, was summoned by the police for an “inquiry” due to a status he posted on his Facebook page. Today (Thursday, July 14) he reported to the Etzion Police Station where he was sent to the officer in charge of interrogations. He was surprised to hear that the reason for the summons was a status he had posted on his Facebook page following the murder of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, Hy”d, in which was written, “’Lord, G-d to whom vengeance belongs, G-d to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth.’ It is a mitzva to follow the ways of the Creator, as is said: ‘… and walk in His ways.’ (Devarim/Deuteronomy 28:9).” The first quote is Tehilim/Psalms 94:1.
Epstein reported that the officer himself said that he sees that Epstein is a normative individual and that the summons was due to “pressure from very high places to clarify the matter”.
“The officer asked me if I was going to carry out an act of revenge on Arab and I replied, ‘Absolutely not.’ After a short discussion he released me,” said Epstein.
Honenu: “The Thought Police are working overtime, and it seems as if freedom of expression is no more in the State of Israel. We suggest that instead of tracking the Facebook pages of Etzion Bloc residents, the ISA and the police should put an end to the widespread incitement to murder Jews in the Arab social media networks. Jewish bloodshed must be stopped.” See here and here for cases in which Honenu succeeded in bringing about the conviction of Sheikh Khaled Al-Mughrabi and Sheikh Omar Abu Sara’a for incitement to injure Jews.
On Tuesday, July 12 a Temple Mount activist was detained by police detectives as he was on his way to an event on the Temple Mount in memory of Hallel Yaffa Ariel, Hy”d. He was interrogated concerning a photograph of himself waving an Israeli flag with the Temple Mount in the background which he had posted on his Facebook page. The photograph is apparently Photoshopped and has a quote from a poem written during the First Aliya: “Raise the flag of Zion high”. At the police station Honenu Attorney Rehavia Piltz provided the detainee, who was released after interrogation, with legal counsel.
Photo: Screenshot of Facebook status