“The police are detaining people based only on their external appearance”

Saturday night, November 19, 2011, 19:04 Four youths were detained on Thursday evening as they were walking through the Machaneh Yehuda Market in Jerusalem, checking which businesses operated with only Jewish labor.
The detainees were briefed by a Honenu Attorney and interrogated at the Tzion Police Station on suspicion of conspiring to commit a misdemeanor. The interrogators refused to specify the misdemeanor. At the end of the interrogation the four were released after they signed on a distancing order banning them from the Machaneh Yehuda Market for two weeks.
The group of youths is part of a project directed by individuals who are under administrative orders distancing them from Yitzhar, in which the Machane Yehuda Market is being mapped and a list of businesses using only Jewish labor is compiled. The organizers of the project plan to distribute maps of the market in which the businesses using Jewish labor only are marked, for the benefit of those who are particular to buy from Jews only.
Approximately a week and a half ago, an additional youth was detained as he walked among businesses in the market as part of the project. The youth was detained on suspicion of plotting a crime and a misdemeanor. The policemen attempted to claim that he was planning a “price tag” incident. After the police understood that there was no evidence that the youth was planning to commit any crime whatsoever, he was also released on condition of a distancing order banning him from the Machaneh Yehuda Market for two weeks.
Honenu stated in response that, “Each time, the police raise the bar on the limit of harassment acceptable towards those who love the People and Land of Israel. According to them, anyone may be detained based on external appearance alone and suspected of conspiring to commit a crime, without specifying what crime he plans to commit. The very authority trusted with upholding the law is responsible for this scandal.”