Dozens of rightwing and leftwing activists clashed on Wednesday outside the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, which convened to hear the case of far-left anarchist Jonathan Pollak.
Pollak, founder of the anti-Israel group “Anarchists Against the Wall,” who currently works for Haaretz, was arrested last week following a complaint of the Ad Kan group which documented Pollak’s participation in a number of violent riots against IDF soldiers.
During the hearing, which resulted in Pollak’s remand to jail, a soldier’s mother, member of the Forum of Mothers for our Fighters, was thrown out for yelling at Pollak: “shame on you for throwing rocks at IDF soldiers.”
Outside the court a fiery and vocal clash erupted between pro-Pollak activists led by Hadash (Arab communist party) MK Ofer Cassif, and rightwing activists led by the Mothers for Soldiers Forum and the Wounded IDF Veterans Forum, who were accompanied by Im Tirtzu.
“There must be a clear message that whomever attacks IDF soldiers will find himself behind bars for a long time,” said the Mothers for Soldiers Forum. “We will not stand idly by as our sons and daughters are harassed by radical anarchists.”
Legal Advisor for Ad Kan, Attorney Tzur Polk, welcomed the court’s decision to remand Pollak to jail and said he hopes “the court will keep Pollak in jail and stop his riots against IDF soldiers.”
Yehuda Sharabany, Im Tirtzu’s project coordinator who was also present at the protest, stated: “We came here today to send a clear message to the court and to all the radical anarchists who came out to support arch-anarchist Jonathan Pollak: This criminal belongs in jail, not sitting comfortably working for Haaretz.”