Following an incident in which Police officers demanded a young Jerusalem resident to remove a protest sign that he had hung on his window saying “There is No Holiness in an Occupied City,” we appealed to the Police Commissioner and the Legal Advisor to the Police on 12.5.2021.
In the appeal, Attorneys Tal Hassin and Reut Shaer, and Coordinator of Freedom and Protest Sivan Tahel demanded that the Police stop sabotaging protests without authority, even if the officers disagree with their messages.
In the appeal, we emphasized the importance of the freedom of expression and especially the freedom of political expression, which is protected under the law, and we argued that the Police acted outside their authority. In the appeal, we emphasized that the freedom of expression is not limited to consensus opinions, but also covers opinions that give rise to insurrection, aversion and resistance, both among police officers and the public. We requested that all entities of the Israeli Police, both commanders and subordinates, be immediately briefed on their duty to permit protest in all its forms, and to protect the safety of protestors in any medium that they may choose to protest.
The Police's response on 13.6.2021 did not provide a substantive answer to our claims and, instead, argued that the police officers were acting in the public interest to maintain public order in accordance with the circumstances on the ground.