The Israeli government has renewed its push for legislation of harsher penalties against Palestinian stone-throwers in East Jerusalem.
In a meeting with defense, internal security and justice ministers and other security officials, including occupied Jerusalem's mayor, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged on Monday to speed up legislation that sees Palestinian protesters facing up to 20 years in jail for acts of resistance such as stone-throwing, according to Anadolu news agency.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the draft legislation – which was first proposed by Israel’s Ministry of Justice back in June – could leave stone-throwers facing a sentence of 10 years in jail, or even up to 20 years for those convicted of having “intent to injure.”
Throwing rocks at Israeli troops, meanwhile, could entail a five-year jail sentence.
The push to pass the bill comes as Israeli forces have denied Palestinians access to al-Aqsa mosque for the past month, causing clashes with Israeli soldiers and Zionist settlers, who force their way into the compound often with security forces providing protection.
Last week, Israeli forces detained four Palestinian children in annexed East Jerusalem. Strict measures, such as arrests and rigid penalties, are already in effect for stone-throwers.
If the bill passes, parents of minors accused of stone-throwing will have to pay an imposed fine as well as compensate the wounded “victims."
In mid-2013, an Israeli court found stone-throwers guilty of manslaughter, after a 2011 incident that killed two Israelis, a less stringent sentence than the demanded sentence of attempted murder.
“A stone is a lethal weapon,” Netanyahu said shortly after that incident.
Resistance through non-violent acts – in the context of the Israeli occupation – are viewed as both a moral and legal right guaranteed by international law. Stone-throwing has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance movements. Penalizing such acts with hyperbolic sentences is an indication of how these stones have instilled fear in the hearts of the occupier.
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