2 examples of assault on free speech

In Jerusalem, a right-wing activist was arrested for daring to say something on Facebook against the repellent "prophet" of the Religion of Rape:

Police on Thursday detained a right-wing activist accused of posting an incendiary photo on social media, Israel Radio reported.

The suspect, Haim Brosh, was taken into custody in Jerusalem the previous evening after uploading to Facebook a photograph of a pig on the Temple Mount drinking rainwater just steps away from the holy site. He was released shortly after questioning and was forbidden to visit the Temple Mount for 15 days.

On his post, Brosh had written underneath the photograph that “the government of Israel allows pigs to control the holiest site for the Jewish people.”

The Temple Mount is the Jews’ holiest site, and is considered the third most holy site in Islam. According to an agreement between Israel and Jordan, the Temple Mount is controlled by the Jerusalem Islamic Wakf.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Brosh’s attorney, said that he intends to appeal the expulsion order, arguing that his client did not break the law.

“Israel continues to act as if we live in Iran or Syria,” Ben- Gvir said. Even more serious is how quickly police took Brosh from his home and instituted the 15-day ban, he added.

And over in France, a mayor affiliated with the Front National is going to be tried for opposing Islam:

Robert Menard, who is an ally of France’s anti-immigrant National Front party, will face a charge in a Paris court of incitement to hatred or discrimination, the source said.

“In a class in the city centre in my town, 91 percent of the children are Muslims. Obviously, this is a problem. There are limits to tolerance”, he said in September 5 comments on French news channel LCI.

Also in September, on France’s first day back to school, he tweeted his regret at witnessing “the great replacement”, using a term by xenophobic writer Renaud Camus to describe the country’s white, Christian population being overtaken by foreign-born Muslims.

Menard, who is the mayor of southern France town Beziers, denied his comments were discriminatory.

“I just described the situation in my town,” he told AFP. “It is not a value judgement, it’s a fact. It’s what I can see.”

So long as these oppressive laws, including those over here - which may even get the backing of Haredi politicians - remain in place, corrupt officials will continue to feel free to persecute all the wrong people.

The really sad part regarding Israel's own outmoded laws is that even some rightists have to shoulder blame, like any who support the Shas bill to make Reform/Conservative customs a crime punishable by outrageous penalties. I think this could explain why what Brosh went though took place - because even right-wing politicians are enabling it to happen.