Israel Amends Penal Code to Toughen Penalty for Palestinian Stone-Throwers: Reports

[Purveyor]

MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - The Israeli cabinet has amended the penal code in order to toughen the penalty on Palestinians convicted of throwing stones at Israeli targets, Middle East Monitor reported Sunday.

"Israel is strongly acting against terrorists, against who throw stones, Molotov cocktails and fireworks," the newspaper quoted Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying at the weekly cabinet meeting.

The amendments allow sentencing the perpetrators for up to 20 years in jail. Those who throw rocks at police officers in a bid to disrupt their work could also be sentenced for up to 5 years in prison according to the new laws.

Over the past few months Israeli vehicles, including train cars, have been repeatedly attacked by Palestinians who threw stones at them and endangered the lives of Israeli citizens.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20141102/195013150/Israel-Amends-Penal-Code-to-Toughen-Penalty-for-Palestinian.html

[King_David]

1. "MOSCOW, November 2"

LOL

[oberliner]

2. It's an article about an article

Here's the article that this article is basically plagiarizing:

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/15032-palestinian-stone-throwers-face-20-years-in-israel-prison

[King_David]

3. Figures ...

[Scootaloo]

5. As Israeli shows us, the story is true

Or at least true enough that your pet publication has picked it up.

So, as they say...

LOL

[oberliner]

7. No one claimed it wasn't true

Just the ridiculousness of "Moscow" on the byline.

The Russian news outlet just lifted an article from another source and changed a few sentences around.

[Israeli]

4. Here Purveyor..........

The only way to stop stone throwing is to end the occupation

If Israel was serious about restoring security to its capital, it would recognize the Palestinian claim to East Jerusalem and find a way for all residents to live in dignity.

Trying to make good on his promise to restore quiet in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his cabinet approved an amendment to Israel’s penal code on Sunday, which would prescribe up to 20 years in prison for someone caught throwing stones at a vehicle (and 10 without having to prove intent to cause harm).

Ref: http://www.timesofisrael.com/ministers-okay-bill-jailing-stone-throwers-for-20-years/

Currently, Palestinians convicted in Israeli civil courts of throwing stones receive around two years in jail, so if this is enforced, it would be a significant increase in degree of severity. While in theory such a law would apply to Israeli citizens, the country’s history of discrimination and granting settler impunity, it is hard to imagine Israeli Jews will be more than nominally affected. While the amendment still needs to pass through committee and three Knesset votes, the message of the bill is clear: a Palestinian caught throwing a stone will go away for a long, long time.

While the potential law would apply to all citizens of Israel, it is clearly directed at Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem — occupied, annexed and ruled under Israeli civil law. A similar law is already in place in the West Bank, which under direct Israeli military occupation is governed by Israeli military law. This strengthens the notion that Israel is looking to treat East Jerusalem Palestinians more like it treats West Bank Palestinians.

Whether or not the bill goes through, the Israeli government’s approach to the intensifying unrest in Jerusalem is clearly designed to, as Netanyahu put it, “[take] vigorous action against terrorists and those who throw stones, fire bombs and fireworks…in order to restore quiet and security throughout Jerusalem. I have ordered that massive reinforcements be brought in [to Jerusalem] and that additional means be used in order to ensure law and order in Israel’s capital.”

The Israeli security establishment sincerely believes that it will be able to put a stop to Palestinian resistance by placing more Palestinians — many of them minors — behind bars. While that may solve the problem in the immediate short-term (and even that is doubtful, as riots have only increased despite the arrest of over 700 people since the start of the summer), history and common sense show it will do nothing for the security of Israeli Jews in the long-term.

Continue reading @

http://972mag.com/the-only-way-to-stop-stone-throwing-is-to-end-the-occupation/98321/

[oberliner]

6. Cool how an "independent writer from NYC" knows the "only way to stop stone throwing"

That is pretty amazing for her!

[Jefferson23]

8. Where do you need to be from? The US president is not from there, either. n/t

[bemildred]

9. Palestinian stone throwers could face 20 years in jail

Israel’s cabinet has approved a law change allowing harsher jail sentences of up to 20 years for stone throwers after tensions erupted again last week in Jerusalem’s Old City.

The move comes after months of rioting in east Jerusalem where Palestinian residents have thrown rocks and fire bombs at police, cars, buses and trains. Over the past 10 days, 110 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli police in the area.

The al-Aqsa compound, or Temple Mount, has become a central point in the escalating violence in the city. The compound houses Islam’s third-holiest site, but is also a sacred spot for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it once housed two Jewish temples.

The compound was closed last Thursday as a security precaution after anti-terrorist police shot dead a Palestinian man who was suspected of having tried to kill a far-right Jewish activist the night before. It was reopened on Friday for Muslim women and men over 50 for Friday prayer but the grounds were closed to other faiths and tourists.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/04/israel-palestinian-stone-throwers-jail

[Jefferson23]

10. Toddler caught up in Israeli crackdown

As Israel looks to jail Palestinian stone-throwers, police search home of a boy who accidentally dropped a marble.

Dalia Hatuqa Last updated: 05 Nov 2014

Silwan, Jerusalem - It is early morning, and Kinan Jaber, who turns two in January, is riding around the family's two-bedroom apartment on a bike that a relative brought him from the United States.

Normally Kinan would be pedalling his tricycle out on the balcony, but an incident two days prior left him confined to the indoors. On Friday, while playing, Kinan threw a marble that found its way down the narrow, trash-strewn alleyway below. It landed on the head of an Israeli soldier patrolling the area.

Forces subsequently searched the Jaber family home looking for the culprit, whom they accused of throwing stones. But when they checked all the rooms, all they found was a toddler and his mother, said Kinan's father, Asad Jaber, who works as a security guard at Silwan's Latin Monastery.

"The boy was playing, and he obviously couldn't see who or what was down below," said his mother, Heba Ghaith, 26. "The soldiers wouldn't believe that he was the only child in the house."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/11/toddler-caught-up-israeli-crackdown-2014114115948790943.html