(JNi.media) The protest over the torture of detainees in the Duma village arson case is probably getting to the security forces, who on Tuesday sent three officers to visit the director of the Gush Katif Museum in Jerusalem, Shlomo Bashan. Bashan is married to musician / journalist Karni Eldad, daughter of former MK Aryeh Eldad and granddaughter of the late philosopher and Likud leader Israel Eldad (whose 20th yahrzeit is coming up January 2016). The three cops came down to Bashan’s home in Tekoa, Gush Etzion, to warn him about his recent post on Facebook:
“I will not let this story go under my radar,” Bashan wrote last week. “This coming Saturday (if the boys are not released by then) I will go to Petakh Tikva, to the Shabak facility’s interrogation cellars where the child is imprisoned… I will stand in front of the Shabak building and will try to break in physically, perhaps even by force, to free that child from the hands of his tormentors. That’s what I would do if it was my child. I assume I would be arrested, but I would be doing my duty. If thousands join me, it could strengthen the struggle, at least the struggle over awareness.”
Bashan’s previous encounter with the Shabak was in 2007, two years after the evacuation of Gush Katif, where he lived. After being removed from Gush Katif, he worked as an armed security guard in Jerusalem and spoke strongly against the Prime Minister. After the evacuation, Bashan’s father suffered two heart attacks, and Bashan was heard to say, according to a report on Channel 10 News, “If my dad had not survive the heart attack I was going to take revenge. I was going to kill everyone who uprooted him.” Bashan suffered serious emotional issues at the time and at some point even left his associates a letter titled “I’m going to die, bye.” He later overcame his anger and published a book of poetry about his experiences. Bashan was interrogated by the Shabak back in 2007 as part of the preparation for the Annapolis conference, when security around Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was tightened, for fear that extremists would try to assassinate him.
Bashan wrote Tuesday night on Facebook: “Today three plainclothes policemen came to my home to warn me about a post I wrote on Facebook. I thanked them respectfully for their contribution, expressed my support for their activities on behalf of the security of Israel and condemned all forms of terrorism, and then warned them in return. You don’t torture children to get them to confess in an interrogation. You don’t come to my house to scare me because I cried out in pain and called for protest. Not in a democratic country.”
Bashan continued: “Knowledgeable sources familiar with the judiciary system believe that I was not the only one who received a warning today. Bennett also received a warning call from the prime minister, and immediately issued a post supporting the Shabak.”
“I guess the torture of the children is about to fade from the media coverage. The Shabak was startled by the protest but did not give in, and very soon one of the kids will confess to some murder, no matter what, and a well publicized indictment will be issued against him. Likud and NRP (the precursor to Bayit Yehudi) have turned their backs on the tortured children, most of whom will be released in the coming days,” Bashan wrote.