Two conferences. Two ideologies. One police raid.

Two conferences

Last week, two political conferences were held - one in Haifa, one in Jerusalem. The conferences were held by groups at opposite sides of the Israeli political spectrum.

The conference in Haifa was by the group Standing Together.
Standing Together is a left-wing Israeli-Palestinian group working towards peace and coexistence. They are opposed to military occupation, extremist violence, and promote working together so that everyone in the region can live in safety and dignity.

The conference in Jerusalem was by the group Chalutzei HaBashan.
Chalutzei HaBashan is a far-right Israeli group determined to settle in southern Syria. They are in favor of ordering all Syrian residents who live within 15 kilometers of the border with Israel to evacuate, and then going in and establishing Jewish settlements in those areas.

The Standing Together conference was subject to a police raid - twice - in order to "ensure that their messages [were] legal".

The Chalutzei HaBashan conference continued uninterrupted. At the same time as the conference, 11 settlers breached the border fence at two different points, crossed into Syria, and were returned to Israel by the military. They were arrested, but then later released.

Free speech and police intimidation

Standing Together is a well-known pro-peace movement. Why would there be grounds for a police raid on the suspicion of "illegal messaging"?

The short answer: There aren't any grounds. The message that the police complained about was a sign that said "Get out of Gaza" and "Students have power". Neither of those phrases are illegal, calls to violence, or advocating for illegal activity. The raid was a transparent attempt to intimidate peace activists, to make citizens afraid to express their views, and to normalize over-policing of legal, non-violent, political gatherings.

On the other hand, at the other conference, a very different message was being delivered. Extremist settlers advocated for displacing Syrian citizens for no reason, stealing their land and homes, and pushing Jewish supremacy. While these messages aren't, in of themselves, illegal, to the best of my knowledge, they're certainly more borderline than calls for peace. The conference applauded as the settlers crossed the border, supporting and advocating for illegal activity. And yet this conference enjoyed a peaceful evening, without any police raids to spoil the joy of the border breach.

The transparent double standard

At the end of the day, the double standard is clear. Pro-peace activists are harassed by the police, while advocates for settler extremism are left alone, and released when they do actually follow through on breaching the border. There is a clear attempt to intimidate activists and groups on one side of the political spectrum, while the other side is allowed to operate with impunity.

The reason behind this double standard is clear. The police are under the direction of the Minister for National Security. The current minister is, unfortunately, himself an advocate for extremist settlement and Jewish supremacy. He has used his position to influence key promotions of officers within the police, elevating officers who agree with his positions and delaying promotions for officers who don't. The police have become a tool in the hands of an extremist, wielded against those seeking peace and coexistence while those advocating for ethnic cleansing and land theft are given a free pass.

Law enforcement has never enjoyed a high level of trust in Israeli society. Their further transformation into a partisan tool under the control of an extremist politician has sunk that trust even further - among all segments of Israeli society. Those of us who are not extremists cannot rely on the police to safeguard our interests, as they actively work to intimidate and harass peaceful, legal gatherings of citizens.

Everyone deserves freedom of speech and expression, including extremists and people I strongly disagree with. The undeserved, politically-motivated police harassment should never have happened and should never happen again. But until the current government falls, there's no reason to expect that it will stop. And so, with the understanding that it comes with a certain risk, we just have to make sure that we don't let activists working towards a better future be intimidated into silence.