By Moshe Feiglin

Editor’s introduction:

[As of this writing, Oryah Shirel, age 15, has been sitting in an Israeli jail for 13 days. She has not been charged with any crime. Oryah’s father is an American citizen and her mother is a Canadian citizen. Oryah lives with her parents and eight siblings in Hebron.]

15-year-old Oryah Shirel is in jail indefinitely. But she has the key. All she has to do is to sign on bail. She refuses to do it.

Oryah was arrested at a demonstration outside the kindergarten in her hometown of Hebron. She and hundreds of others had protested the Israeli government’s rebuilding of an Arab home, a structure from which Jewish children in the school playground had previously been attacked.

In her decision to return Oryah to her prison cell, Judge Shalev-Gartel wrote that there is no basis to believe that Oryah acted in an illegal manner. So how does a wholesome teenager who doesn’t smoke, drink or do drugs end up in prison? Why doesn’t she have the basic rights afforded to all minors that include the privilege to call home and to receive clean clothing?

Oryah hasn’t studied law. She probably cannot analyze complex situations like we, the adults, can. But Oryah has good common sense, a still unmarred perspective on reality and youthful innocence that penetrates all the layers of falsehood to which we have become accustomed. We adults need to work hard every morning to find the truth. But Oryah simply lives it. When she saw how the entire judicial system was used against the Jewish majority in Gush Katif, and when she saw how it covered up all abominations – from Sharon’s corruption to the abusive and violent police in Amona – she understood the reality of her own situation. She declared, “You’ve broken all the pieces and I’m not playing the game – I do not recognize you and am willing to be judged only according to the laws of the Torah.”

The poor judge didn’t know exactly what to do. The defiant young girl in her courtroom had removed the mask that conceals the collective face of the system. So the judge wrote “Classified Information” in large letters at the top of the protocol of the hearing. It was a futile attempt to hide the decadence of a system that concentrates on fighting against young girls and boys, children who no longer have questions. What they do have is a simple answer that shows the way that we need to struggle today.

At base, what Oryah and others like her are saying to us is, “Stop cooperating with these anti-Semites. We are the ones affording them legitimacy. Stop giving them the oxygen that they need to destroy us. Stop giving them your recognition. Because in truth, Judge Shalev-Gartel represents nothing at all. She is passé, still around only because nothing has replaced her – yet. The positive Zionism that built this country and nurtured it is finished. The truth, morality and the positive energy are all with Oryah. If Oryah had tried to defend herself, she would have become part of the game. Essentially, she would be acknowledging the legitimacy of the Israeli judicial system.

So we see that more than Oryah needs the judge, the judge needs Oryah! And Oryah has deftly disconnected the judge’s oxygen supply.

But now we must address an underlying issue. Does the judge really not have the authority to try Oryah Shirel? The answer is not so simple. Every state must have a judicial system. If not, anarchy would reign. What would Oryah do if she had a monetary claim? Or a civil suit? Would she then be willing to relinquish the right to defend herself?

Oryah demands to be judged according to the laws of the Torah. And she is right, of course. But we are not living in rectified reality. We still drink the water from the State’s pipes, use its electricity and speak through its phone lines. We still live in the Israeli reality. Yes, we are attempting (slowly but surely) to build a rectified reality on its base. But in the current corrupt reality into which G-d has inserted us, the judge has the authority – and the obligation – to try us. So the problem is not the authority of the judge, but rather the credibility of the judge.

Israel’s judicial system lost its credibility (and also its honor) in the ruins of Gush Katif. When minors are brought to trial in groups, when 8,000 Gush Katif residents are given fifteen minutes to argue in court against their expulsion, when murderers are freed wholesale while children are imprisoned until the end of the proceedings against them, there is no justice. What we have instead is judicial bullying. Judges have the authority to judge, but not to be bullies in judge’s cloaks. Instead of saying, “I don’t recognize the court’s authority,” I think that Oryah should be saying, “I don’t have any faith in the judicial system.”

The unpleasant truth is that if you are arrested for a “patriotic offense” there is no reason to defend yourself. The system simply has no credibility. There is no reason to hire a lawyer. But even if you decide to forgo the services of a lawyer and the right to defend yourself against the band of anti-Jewish tyrants currently occupying the judges’ seats, you do not have to go to jail.

We appear in court because they force us to do so – not because we have any faith in the court’s credibility. We sign on bail because they force us to do so. The judges are nothing more than bullies.

Is it worthwhile to make claims and counterclaims? Forget it. Should you hire a defense attorney? It’s superfluous. Should you represent yourself? Don’t bother.

What you need to say is, “I am here against my will. You have forced me to be here. The police behind me are here to make sure that I don’t run away. I am signing on bail not because I accept you as a credible judge, but because I can’t afford to go to jail.

There is no trial here, and I will not take part in the farce. The only thing going on here is coercion.
And I have no faith in bullies.

Moshe Feiglin is the president of Manhigut Yehudit and a candidate for Chairman of the Likud party. He led the Zo Artzeinu non-violent civil disobedience struggle against the Oslo Accords. Moshe graduated from Or Etzion yeshiva, served as a captain in an IDF combat unit, and is the author of the books Where There Are No Men and War of Dreams. Moshe and his family live in Karnei Shomron, Israel.

To learn more about Moshe Feiglin and Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) and to read our plan for Israel’s future, visit http://www.jewishisrael.org/ .

Manhigut Yehudit is the largest faction inside the Likud Party in Israel. It strives to turn Israel from The State of the Jews into The Jewish State.

Contact: Shmuel Sackett, International Director (516) 330-4922 (cell)

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Related: Israel, Judaism

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