I was arrested today because the state does not want its own citizens to see how it supports illegal outposts. I went to Hilltop 26 to view the progress of the outpost that I have been writing about over the past month. As is customary, the IDF, which was stationed at the hilltop today, declared it a closed military zone within minutes of our arrival. According to the discretion of the commanders, only non-settler Israelis were forced to leave the area.

They showed us the order which, according to the laws of the State of Israel must follow certain criteria in order to be official. Chief among them is that the order must be signed by the commander of the area. The order showed to us was not signed and as such is against the law. Ta’ayush was willing to accept the order and leave the area but we wanted to see the settlers removed from the area as well. (See Max Blumenthal’s excellent video of the settlers being removed from hilltop 26 last Saturday) The commander said to this that he will decide who is removed from the area. This means that the government has decided that the settlers are allowed to remain at Hilltop 26 and anyone who wants to visit the area in order to document yet another outpost in the West Bank will be removed. Non settlers are essentially forbidden to view the actions of the state of Israel in the West Bank.

The army began using excessive force against Ta’ayush activists as we were peacefully leaving the area. They arrested two people who were not walking fast enough. At this moment, a solider got in my face and I said to him, you can take me as well. I was not able to take yet another visit to Hilltop 26, having to see the settlers enjoy the full support of the Israeli army. They arrested me and told me that I was disobeying an order from the IDF. As I was sitting in the army jeep with two other Ta’ayush members, we could see more and more settlers arriving to Hilltop 26 in clear violation of the closed military zone. One of the settler children thanked the army for removing the leftists.

The soldiers threw us into the army jeep, which was on with the air conditioning on high, and closed the doors. After a minute, one solider said to the other, turn the air conditioning off, leaving us to bake in the steamy locked vehicle. We sat in the heat and watched the settlers laugh at us and thank the soldiers individually. I felt like I was on another planet.

At the police station in Kiryat Arba, the police officers immediately began asking us why we would engage in provocation. “Why come here on the weekend and provoke? Don’t you have anything better to do with your time? Why are you always creating chaos here?” I found this to be insulting and another reflection of how Israelis view the settlements and the people that wish to document and expose them. What provocation were we guilty of? Documenting the IDF breaking the law? It is horrible the situation that we all face in Israel.

After waiting for an hour we were taken in for a formal interview by the police officers. They informed me that a military order was placed on the area and that I did not obey this order. I responded, on record, that the order was not official because it lacked a signature, that I was leaving the area in peace and the settlers violated the order by staying in their illegal outpost. I insisted I did nothing illegal, and rather that it is the soldiers’ very decision to remove us but allow settlers to remain at an illegal outpost that is the true crime.

After deliberation, the officers finally charged myself and another Ta’ayush member with disobeying an IDF order and told us that we would spend twenty four hours in jail with a hearing the next day in Jerusalem. As we were talking two members of Knesset called the commander at the police station informing him that the arrest was not valid and not in line with the law. As soon as the commander hung up the phone, he flashed us a grin and mocked us about the fact that the rest of the leftists were trying to help us.

Eventually we were put in the cell. Yehuda and I started to have a conversation about Shabbtai Zvi and Rev Nahum. We were getting comfortable and anticipating a long night ahead of us. Right before we entered the cell, the main commander told us that he would let us go in ten minutes if we agreed not to enter the south West Bank for two months. Yehuda told him that the maximum he was authorized to ban us for was 15 days, not two months. He left for another hour or so. We continued our discussion of Jewish history and finally the commander returned. He rephrased himself to 15 and after deciding to agree, we were free to go. Ezra came to pick us up and we were on the way home to Jerusalem. Yehuda told me that it was obvious that the police did not have a case and though they could legally hold us overnight, the judge would throw the case out and it would look bad for the police.

The bottom line is clear. The state will use every means of intimation and power that they can to bar us despite the fact that the laws of the State of Israel are on our side. We are citizens and we have the right to see what the government does in our name and with our money.

As I was sitting in jail today thinking about Hilltop 26, all the experiences from the last two months flooded into my mind: Ta’ayush members being shoved, hit, settlers spitting on us, the army always there siding with the settlers, etc. It seemed so striking that I was the one sitting in jail. I, an Israeli citizen residing in Jerusalem who wants to document an illegal outpost that I feel harms the safety of the entire state, was in disbelief that while sitting in jail, the settlers were still out there, free to build more and more.

update: I just received this comment as I am writing this post on a youtube video from today. Sorry for the language, it is not mine: From youtube user orrush

you fucking pieces of shit will do everything to make the IDF look like shit. you know what i think of u? u’re lower than my shit fuck u. i have more respect for my dog’s shit then i do to u… leave the IDF alone they’re protecting the state u live in and u have to be a fucking douche bag and make them look like shit… FUCK OFF!
Go IDF!