RSS Feed
October 22nd, 2017 
Awake Goy Hundreds of demonstrators block streets after member of the community detained for not showing up for IDF service
Some 50 people were arrested on Tuesday evening during a series of protests by ultra-Orthodox demonstrators against the arrest of a member of their community being held by military police for not presenting himself for army service.
The demonstrators were arrested as they clashed with police while trying to block key roads and junctions in Jerusalem, Modi’in, Beit Shemesh and Bnei Brak.
Many in the ultra-Orthodox community shun the mandatory military service that applies to most Israelis, and the community has historically enjoyed blanket exemptions in favor of religious seminary studies. But some in the ultra-Orthodox community refuse to even appear at the recruiting office to request such exemptions.
There have been regular demonstrations against the draft by the ultra-Orthodox — also known as Haredi — community. The 24-year-old who sparked Tuesday’s protests was arrested at a previous demonstration in Jerusalem at the beginning of the week and once in police detention it was discovered that he is a draft-dodger.
At the Bar-Ilan Junction in the capital dozens of protesters intermittently blocked the road and caused heavy traffic congestion in approach roads. Police arrested 15 people at that demonstration. Other protesters tried to block Shivtei Yisrael Street in Jerusalem and were dispersed by police.
In Beit Shemesh five demonstrators were arrested for disturbing the peace and blocking roads.
Traffic along Route 4, a main artery in the Gush Dan region, was also disrupted after protesters blocked the Nitzanim Junction. Police were deployed to clear the demonstrators and prevent the road from being closed.
Fifteen protesters were arrested in Bnei Brak after they tried to block the junction of Jabotinksy and Rabbi Akiva streets in the city that lies east of Tel Aviv. Police asked drivers to avoid the area and find alternative routes.
Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators also interfered with traffic on Route 443 at the Shilat Junction, near Modi’in.
“Protest is a democratic right and the Israel Police will allow it, but disorderly conduct and disturbing the peace is a criminal offense,” police said in a statement.
The Hebrew-language Ynet news reported the organization behind the demonstrations, the Committee for Saving the Torah World, said in a statement that it will continue to protest against army service. The group noted that it is obeying Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, the leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in Jerusalem, who has called on his followers to take to the streets to demonstrate against the draft.
“The community of the God-fearing will stand like a bulwark and without compromise and absolutely refuse to cooperate with the regime plans to assimilate the Haredi public into Israeli society, and its licentious and heretical way of life.”
Reforms passed in the Knesset in 2014 that sought to do away with the exemptions and gradually increase ultra-Orthodox recruitment have met fierce opposition from many in the religious community, who perceive the army as a threat to their way of life.
In late November, the Knesset approved an amendment to the Equal Service Law, dramatically rolling back 2014 reforms and scrapping collective penalties to be imposed if annual quotas for ultra-Orthodox draftees were not met.
Source: www.timesofisrael.com
Source Article from http://israevil.com/police-arrest-120-ultra-orthodox-protesters-idf-service/
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
