Gidi Weitz is one of the most esteemed journalists in my eyes. I have not missed any of his research for years. In contrast to the variety of press stars who have taken over the profession, the translation of the New Journalism concept into the narcissism of network celebrities – Weitz remains adhering to basic journalistic principles: Your work is not measured by typing tweets from the moment you receive information on your mobile Insights “that you shoot into the studio space as if you are an expert on every matter. Your job is to bring stories that those in power are trying to hide, by gathering solid evidence that you can stand behind. This is Weitz: a man who is not really interested in the huge red title but rather the plethora of gray words beneath it.
Precisely because of this, I was annoyed by the holy rage that erupted this week from many media people regarding the arrest of Weitz in Tel Aviv. He was arrested and handcuffed after addressing police officers with questions about their actions that he deemed unworthy, was taken to the police station, where he underwent a physical search and just before being sent to the detention cell, the station commander arrived and released him.
On the face of it, this is illegal behavior by the police, both on the ground and at the station, but the shock that gripped the journalists (who are supposed to know what is common and rare in our society) is worrying, due to the fact that the police arrested a man. , And took his laces (!). My God, where have you been so far? Haven’t you occasionally emerged from the air-conditioned studios into the sweaty streets?
Weitz’s arrest is anything but surprising. As for Weitz, he’s not surprising in two ways: first, by the fact that it’s only because he’s a true journalist who maintains his relative anonymity (certainly unlike those media stars who tweet early and eve “boom” tweets about themselves), that he “earned” treatment for anyone not known or powerful. If he was a celeb all this would have been avoided by him and us. Second, Weitz was not surprised by the simple human act he did: he saw injustice before his eyes and intervened immediately, without being equipped with a copy and a journalist’s certificate but only with conscience and courage. This fits his character portrayed in his writing.
The arrest is also not surprising in relation to the police. It is true that the IDF waves were so moved by the incident that a Tel Aviv passer-by who witnessed the arrest was broadcast and described it in great detail, as if it were a rare incident (how could a special broadcast vehicle not be sent there? Wonder) but a quick investigation Contrary to the law and dumping in detention cages called cells is in the possession of a “human bite dog” in Israeli culture and not the other way around.
Fulfilled the journalists, who like all of us are close to themselves, but what is more worrying is the way the media outrage has affected the action of the authorities, who are absolutely obliged by law to maintain basic equality between citizens, even those with ties and power and those who are not. Homeland Security Minister Omar Bar-Lev was quick to update his diaries that “after I learned about the case from a tweet, and after finding out details, I called Gidi, talked to him and apologized for what happened.” At the same time, it was announced that the commissioner had instructed to investigate the matter in depth and immediately.
Not to be misunderstood: all of these claims are true and justified in my eyes. Every policeman’s hand must tremble before he handcuffs a person who does not endanger others. More than that, detention, even without handcuffs, is a means that should be required only with no choice and not as a primary means. But the authorities’ response to Weitz’s arrest does not teach them any favors, but rather imputes their duty. It is not possible that the minister in charge of the police does not know that according to her own data, more than half of the cases that begin with this type of arrest are not indicted, ie: they are not justified.
Moreover, arrest and restraint Weitz are a common phenomenon unfortunately. Here is a collection of random cases I collected for the benefit of writing this column from the Public Defender. Right next to Weitz’s arrest, a detainee was handcuffed for three whole hours in the courtyard of the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, and if the public defender on duty had not turned his attention to Judge Adi Bar-Tal, it would probably have continued. In the Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court, the police asked to detain a foreign national from Sudan (who is suffering from a mental illness – and the police are aware of this) until the end of the proceedings, just because he opened the door of an unlocked restaurant. Had it not been for Judge Haim Fes, who harshly criticized the police for actually filing the arrest warrant he would still be in the cell. In another case, a suspect was arrested for seven days, among other things because he sang too loudly at 6:15 p.m. No, that’s not a mistake. This is the reason for the arrest against him: the neighbors complained about the intensity of the karaoke and the police arrested him. Judge Zohar Divon Segal of a court in Rishon Lezion, who ordered his release on parole, criticized the police for forcing him to spend an unnecessary night in false custody. These are just a few examples that illustrate the rule. In all these cases the public defenders acted and corrected injustices. One can only guess what happens when the latter are not around.
I’m not innocent. It is clearly more interesting to write about the arrest of a journalist, whose name is known to the public, than about the arrest of another “small” citizen, but both journalists and the authorities must act professionally. As for the latter – they must by law treat everyone equally. If the minister calls a detainee who was arrested and detained in vain, he must do the same to the same Sudanese citizen in Be’er Sheva and to the same Ethiopian from Jerusalem and to the karaoke enthusiast from the center. As for the former, Akoti, who is framing the affair, will be out of focus as a journalist, because he is a citizen, just a citizen – who saw injustice and chose not to close his eyes and as a result, found himself behind bars. The fact that he is a journalist does not really matter. And if it matters – it’s awful. And without talking to Weitz, and only on the basis of his fine journalistic work am I convinced that he would have agreed that it was a correct and more important framing.
The author is the Dean of the Multicultural Campuses of the Ono Academic Campus