In 1997-98, the Israeli government under Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu, with Washington's encouragement, arrested and jailed a young woman, Tatiana Soskin (also spelled Tatyana Suskin), who put up posters in Hebron that depicted the Muslim prophet, Muhammad, as a pig, A Jerusalem court convicted her of various crimes and sentenced her to two years in prison, plus a one-year suspended sentence.
I wrote about the case at the time in an "[Hebron Pig Poster Incident:] How Clinton Adheres to the 'Rushdie Rules'" but then left the topic: that seemed to be that, a one-time incident, a sport.
 The Soskin poster from 1997. |
But it does not appear to be so. As a supporter, Zvi Golan, noted at the time: "At a time when a Tel Aviv museum is displaying photographs of naked men wrapped in tefilin, and the national Israel Museum in Jerusalem has an erotic exhibit identifying with Eva Braun, Tatiana Soskin is in jail because she insulted not Judaism, but Islam." This weblog entry will pursue the topic of a double standard, one for Judaism and another for Islam.
To start, Ben Kurtzer notes at "In Israel There Is Free Speech for Some":
The prestigious Israel Prize for sculpture has been awarded to Yigal Tumarkin [who] has fashioned a pig wearing phylacteries, and on November 4, 1988 told Tel Aviv Magazine that when seeing haredi Jews he can understand the Nazis. He once said he wished he had gunned down Raphael Eitan and Rehavam Ze'evi.
He branded then Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat "Papa Doc" for proposing to relocate Tumarkin's upside-down glass pyramid Holocaust memorial from outside city hall. He published a "retraction" in an op-ed in Hadashot 10 days later, writing that, "The outward strangeness of the Jew and the pretentiousness of the notion that God chose us... caused violent surrounding cultures to clash ... with this arrogant minority ... The image of the cunning, ambitious scoundrel, lending money at exorbitant interest, turned the bent, hook-nosed bearded Jew into the enemy of civilization ... which didn't help belatedly enlightened Jews."
(January 19, 2004)
Nov. 25, 2008 update: Sultan Knish tells about Gershon (Gregory) Trastman, a writer for Vesti, the conservative Russian-language newspaper in Israel; a recent poem by him, with references to Arab demographics as a weapon against Israel, has got him in trouble. Here is a rough translation of the poem: .
Today however in Israel it is
A Nightmare, the number of Arabs passes a Million
And increases without weakness or respite
Look upon them and your vision grows dark
I will tell the Jews without offense
At night they farm and form is filled
By the eclipse of the moonlight's beam,
The breath of death, what way is found?
The hare, the cat, the locust cannot match
And whether through Ill Luck or Prophecy
We already pave the way to the Tomb of Night
The Tomb of Night, an Arab woman's womb
In addition, Sergei Podrazhansky, the Vesti oped page editor, is on his way to court.
Comments: (1) Two such cases suggest the Soskin episode was not aberrant but part of something larger. (2) Dhimmitude appears to be flourishing in Israel.
The "No Arabs - No terrorism" bumper sticker, in Hebrew.
Feb. 25, 2009 update: The slogan "No Arabs - No terrorism" emerged during the post-September 2000 violence and in 2002 was deemed racist by Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein. Nonetheless, Neria Ofan, 37, had a bumper sticker on his car with the slogan as he drove in 2004 through the West Bank to his residence in Yitzhar. In a February 18 ruling, Judge Shulamit Dotan of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court found Ofan guilty of incitement to racism. She explained why: the slogan is
tainted with racism because it connects the entire Arab population, without any differentiation among its members, and the execution of heinous terror acts. It thus shows hostility and enmity toward an entire populace, only because of its national-ethnic origin. The slogan also suggests a solution to the "problem" in the form of collective punishment of the Arab population by making it disappear, either by expulsion of by other means, which the reader need only imagine, as long as the country remains "clean" of Arabs."
Ofan will be sentenced at a later date. He is the second person to be convicted for using the slogan, the first having been David Ha'ivri, who was sentenced to six months of community service for distributing T-shirts with the slogan on them.
Ofen responded by calling the judgment both "a bit illogical" and "a selective enforcement of the law."
Itamar Ben-Gvir also accused the police and the courts of a double standard: "We see that when the Arabs chant 'Death to the Jews' as they did recently in Umm el-Fahm, neither the police nor the State Attorney's Office do anything." He also held that "No Arabs - No terrorism" does not amount to a direct call to violence.
Barak Medina, a law professor at Hebrew University agreed, noting that there is no uniform approach in such cases, which are influenced by the public mood and the general political circumstances. He also noted that Israeli law enforcement is more sensitive to remarks directed against a minority.
Comment: In contrast, a bumper sticker with "No Muslims - No Terrorism" was for sale in 2003 at a Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., and no one was arrested.
Mar. 2, 2009 update: On learning that "a cast member on the Israeli version of the reality show Survivor said he had named one of his shoes Muhammad," I wonder if jail awaits him. So far, the only reaction I find is that GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah yesterday, as paraphrased by the Saudi newspaper Arab News, "called on the international community and the United Nations to take immediate measures to stop the defamation of prophets and religions."
Mar. 9, 2009 update: Incidents in Hebron suggest that the government of Israel devotes less attention to protecting Judaism than Islam. Efrat Weiss reports for Yedi'ot Aharonot in "Prayer books at holy site vandalized":
Police launched an investigation Monday after Jewish settlers in Hebron accused Palestinians of destroying prayer and psalm books in the Cave of the Patriarchs. Spokesman for the Jewish settlement in Hebron, Noam Arnon, claimed a double standard was at play. "If Quran books had been torn up I have no doubt the case would be handled drastically and immediately, but when it's damage done to Jewish holy sites there is disregard and whitewashing," he said.
Every year Jewish and Palestinians worshippers are allowed 10 days at the holy cave. On Monday Jewish prayer-goers arrived to find their holy books vandalized during one of the Muslim days of worship at the cave. According to Arnon, the incident was not the first to occur. "After every such day we gather shards and appraise the damage. This time the damage occurred to prayer and psalm books; in the past it was mezuzot, furniture, pipes, and faucets," he said. He added that complaints had been filed before, to no avail. "No one has ever been interrogated or brought to justice. No sanctions exist to prevent such incidents," he said.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) responded to the incident by saying, "The barbaric behavior of the Hebron rioters, who destroyed holy books in the Cave of the Patriarchs, proves once again that they are an agitating and destructive presence that finds itself among cultured people." He added that the next government, in which his party is predicted to participate, would strive to secure full Jewish control over the holy site.
Police stated that an investigation has been launched. So far no arrests have been made.
Aug. 17, 2011 update: Israelis insult Israelis, do not face criminal charges: A pig poster quite similar to Soskin's but with Ariel Sharon's name on it caused no problems and led to no time in jail for Ron Magal, the person who drew it, when it appeared in a Tel Aviv gallery, Boaz Arad notes in Anochi. Interesting that the Jewish state should protect the non-porcine dignity of Muslims more than that of Jews.
 No jail time for this illustration. |
May 29, 2013 update: A Muslim member of parliament in Israel, Ibrahim Sarsour of the UAL-Ta'al party, has submitted a bill that outlaws cursing, defaming and publishing pictures or caricatures of holy books and prophets, including Muhammad, Moses and Jesus. Indeed, according to Sarsour, the bill outlaws "any offense in any form – speaking, drawing – that harms people's religious sentiments, whether directly or indirectly."
Sarsour explained that, although there have not been any offensive caricatures of Muhammad disseminated in Israel recently, he would like to prevent it from occurring in the future. He also pointed out that soccer fans often chant things about Muhammad that are offensive to Muslims. "There is no difference between religion and a prophet, and a law like this is necessary regardless of whether the phenomenon exists, because it can exist," he said.
The current law, which outlaws "grossly offending" religions is not strong enough, Sarsour added, and the time has come for the punishment to be greater, in the form of high fines and jail sentences, so it deters people from insulting religion. Sarsour saw no issue of free speech with the legislation, saying he makes "a clear difference between the right to express opinions and harming religious sentiment. That is a red line, and there is no justification to cross it."
The bill is unlikely to pass, as it does not have support from any MKs [members of Knesset] outside of UAL-Ta'al or in the coalition.
Oct. 18, 2013 update: Not a criminal charge but not too different: Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran, a Christian Arab who heads Israel's Central Elections Committee, has banned a Likud party municipal election ad about ending the early morning adhan from mosques in Jaffa on the grounds that it the ad would offend Muslims. The ad reads: "Silencing the muezzin in Jaffa? Only the Likud can." After a Labor party member complained to the Elections Committee about the ad, Joubran banned the ad on the grounds that it "will almost certainly be highly offensive to the Arab-Muslim population of the state of Israel."
July 31, 2014 update: A bartender living in Beer Sheba, Lior Cohen, 22, was arrested and interrogated for a Facebook page comment that "An Arab who is a real man is an Arab in the grave." Cohen expressed regret and so was sentenced only to house arrest for 10 days and no use of the internet for 30 days.
Feb. 5, 2015 update: At the request of MK Ahmad Tibi and the Joint Arab List, Salim Joubran (the Christian Arab who still heads the Central Elections Committee), has ruled that Yisrael Beytenu may not, as part of its electioneering, give away copies of the Charlie Hebdo "survivors' issue" with Muhammad on the cover along with a wrapping that carried criticism of Tibi. The Arab party also petitioned the committee, noting the outrage the cover provoked among Israel's Muslim population. Liberman had bought up copies of the issue after a bookstore decided not to sell it. Joubran explained that the copy of Charlie Hebdo amounts to a gift and so violates campaign laws. Feb. 25, 2015 update: A three-judge panel of the Supreme Court overturned the Central Elections Committee ban on Yisrael Beytenu from handing out free copies of Charlie Hebdo, calling it "legitimate election propaganda," not a gift. Liberman welcomed the ruling: "The High Court's decision to allow the distribution of Charlie Hebdo is an important message that Israel remains a Jewish and democratic state and that we shouldn't give in to threats and violence by Arab members of Knesset who are trying to turn Israel into another Islamic State country."
 Avigdor Liberman campaigning on Feb. 5. |
July 28, 2015 update: I write about the arrest of Avia Morris for calling Muhammad a pig in "A 'Pig' Incident in Jerusalem" today in Israel Hayom.
Aug. 16, 2015 update: Police have detained three other Jews for yelling "Muhammad is a pig."
Dec. 22, 2016 update: A Jewish Temple Mount activist, Haim Brosh, 30, Photoshopped a picture of a pig at the Dome of the Rock on his Facebook page. The pig is drinking from a puddle that reflects the building's dome. The Israeli police responded by arresting him yesterday for insulting a religion and demanded that he remove the post. The Times of Israel reports that he "was released after several hours of questioning and told that if he didn't delete the photo he would be re-arrested. He was also given a 15-day ban from visiting the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem." Brosh removed the picture from his Facebook timeline but did not delete it.
 Haim Brosh's graphic. |
June 30, 2020 update: This case is not about insulting Islam but Jewish activism related to the Temple Mount and its Islamic sanctities. A group of youths, including Yedidya Epstein, 14, walked around the gates of the Temple Mount as they do every Thursday. Epstein explains what happened, with narration by Arutz Sheva:
"We were in the Muslim Quarter, about twenty guys. About fifty Arabs arrived and started making trouble. The Arabs came in numbers and started beating us." At that time, about five Border Police officers who were at the scene approached the boys and demanded they go away. "We told them, why are you kicking us out and not them? We didn't agree to move and we lay down on the ground, so they told us it was an illegal gathering. We got up and they asked us to start walking, we walked slowly and they started to push us. They pushed hard."
He said, "Towards the Shechem Gate, there was trouble again. They started to kick us, they lifted me by my hands and legs. I told them that I live here and you can't take me from where I live. I told them I wanted to go in, we were already at Shechem Gate and then they caught me, a Border Policeman and Border Policewoman, and took me."
The two Border Police officers asked him to give them his personal phone. When he did not comply, they began pushing their hands into his pockets. "The Border Policewoman put her hand in my pocket to take the phone, and I told her she was harassing me."
"I explained to them that I'm shomer negiah (halakhic prohibition of physical contact between men and women who are not married to one another, ed.) and I suggested that I won't resist but I'll go with the Border Policeman at his own pace, with only him holding me. At one point, the Border Policeman started running with me and I fell. He dragged me," he said.
The boy and the police officers who caught him arrived at the Jerusalem Border Police building. "I came to Beit Eliyahu, where they made sure no one was filming and slammed the door shut. Another Border Policeman came and choked me, he grabbed me by the throat and a third Border Policeman threw his hand away from me. I told him I couldn't breathe and then he pulled me. They kicked me, started beating me."
Epstein further described the harsh violence directed against him. "He put me in the toilet, came in himself and locked the door. He put me against the wall and kicked me in the legs. I thought he was going to murder me, I'm not kidding," he said. "He kept beating me and at one point he pulled me out and flung me on the chair."
When Epstein asked for water, they replied that they had run out of water bottles. Around 22:00 he was transferred to the Jerusalem District headquarters building, the "Kishla" building.
Even there, 14-year-old Epstein testified, he received disgraceful treatment as he was forced to stay in the waiting room handcuffed all night, without food and water and without his parents being notified of his arrest. "A detention cell was occupied so they left me in the waiting room all night and didn't let me talk to my parents," he said. "They handcuffed my hands and my feet, until I arrived in court at 11:30 on Friday."
