Friday, July 5, 2013

13-07-04 Occupy Tel-Aviv: Weekly demonstration in front of Minister of Treasury home


A few hundred demonstrators convened in front of the home of Treasury Secretary Yair Lapid.
The slogans were the usual:
- No future with Bibi and Lapid
- Schuster (street of the minister's residence), Tahrir - the same revolution
- Government, Corporations - a Crime Organization

This particular demonstration was also aimed against police conduct, since last week police made some sexual harassing comments to female demonstrators.

Some demonstrators later blocked traffic in some intersections, several arrests took place.


Video streaming by Ustream Video URL
http://j14.org.il/j14live/tailorvj

Of note
In front of the Treasury Minister home, police set up fences, with the intention that demonstrators stay within that marks, while police stood on the other side.  A high ranking female police officer, however, was standing in the middle of the demonstrators, for no obvious reason, playing with a smart phone.  I adamantly asked her to leave, but some other demonstrators warned me that I may be detained for that.  The officer, however, immediately left the area.
In this age, when every email is scanned, and every phone call is recorded, demonstrations are one of the only opportunities for direct communications among activists.  It is also clear that smart phones have a wide range of capabilities.  Therefore, the conduct of the police officer may be seen as a blatant violation of the rights for Free Speech, Free Association.
Request for legal opinion was forwarded to the Israeli Civil Rights Association.


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