Tag: Israel protest

Israelis Protest Against Bibi Judicial

Israelis Hold Massive Protest Against Bibi Judicial Overhaul

By LokMarg

Half a million Israelis took to the streets in the tenth consecutive week of protests against plans by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s judicial system, organizers claimed, as reported by CNN.

Israel has a population of just over 9 million, so if organizers’ estimates are correct, about 5 percent of Israelis came out to voice their opposition to the proposed reforms.

Nearly half of the protesters, about 240,000, gathered in Tel Aviv, the organizers said. In Jerusalem, several hundred demonstrators gathered in front of President Isaac Herzog’s house. They carried Israeli flags and chanted slogans including “Israel will not be a dictatorship.”

On Thursday, Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, urged the Netanyahu government to take the judicial overhaul legislation off the table, the CNN reported.

CNN reported that the protesters and critics of Netanyahu’s plan say it would weaken the country’s courts and erode the judiciary’s ability to check the power of the country’s other branches of government.

The package of legislation would give Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, the power to overrule Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority. It would also give the government the power to nominate judges, which currently rests with a committee composed of judges, legal experts and politicians.

It would remove power and independence from government ministries’ legal advisers, and take away the power of the courts to invalidate “unreasonable” government appointments, as the High Court did in January, forcing Netanyahu to fire Interior and Health Minister Aryeh Deri.

Critics accuse Netanyahu of pushing the legislation in order to get out of corruption trials he is currently facing. Netanyahu denies that, saying the trials are collapsing on their own, and that the changes are necessary after judicial overreach by unelected judges.

Israel does not have a written constitution, but a set of what are called Basic Laws.

“We are done being polite,” said Shikma Bressler, an Israeli protest leader. “If the laws being suggested will pass, Israel will no longer be a democracy.”

About two out of three (66%) Israelis believe the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down laws incompatible with Israel’s Basic Laws, and about the same proportion (63%) say they support the current system of nominating judges, according to a poll last month for the Israel Democracy Institute.

“The only thing this government cares about is crushing Israeli democracy,” opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said. (ANI)

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Israel Protests Mahsa Amini

Iran’s Khamenei Blames the US, Israel For Protests Over Mahsa Amini

By LokMarg

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has blamed the United States for the ongoing protest in the country following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Monday, Khamenei said he was heartbroken at the death of the 22-year-old girl in police custody. However, he did not approve of the large-scale demonstrations following the death of Amini.

“We were heartbroken, too. But the reaction to this incident, while no investigation has been done and nothing has been certain, should not have been this that some people come and make the streets insecure, cause the people to feel unsafe, harm the security, burn the Quran, remove the hijab of a woman, burn mosques and hussainiyahs, and arson banks and people’s cars,” he was quoted as saying by news agency IRNA.

Ayatollah Khamenei alleged that this chaos was planned by the United States and some Iranians who are living abroad have helped them.

Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in the capital, Tehran, on September 13, for allegedly not wearing a hijab in full compliance with mandatory requirements. According to the authorities, she fell into a coma shortly after collapsing at a detention center and died three days later from a heart attack.

Since her death, thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country. Security forces have responded at times with live ammunition, and many people have been killed, injured, and detained in the protests.

More than 100 people have been killed in nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO. The group said the international community has a duty to investigate this crime and prevent further crimes from being committed by Iran.

Last week, the UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was becoming “increasingly concerned” about reports of the death toll rising, “including women and children.”

In his statement released via his Spokesperson, UN Secretary-General said he had been following events closely, and he called on security forces to stop using “unnecessary or disproportionate force”.

He appealed for restraint, to avoid any escalation: “We underline the need for a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation into Mahsa Amini’s death by an independent competent authority.” (ANI)

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