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Protesters Call for Release of Israeli Prisoners

In response to the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners

by
Romy Zipken
August 14, 2013
Israeli right wing activists and family members of Jewish prisoners who killed Palestinians protest outside Ayalon prison in demand of the release of their relatives on August 13, 2013 in Ramla, Israel. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)
Israeli right wing activists and family members of Jewish prisoners who killed Palestinians protest outside Ayalon prison in demand of the release of their relatives on August 13, 2013 in Ramla, Israel. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

A group of Jewish protesters gathered outside the Ayalon Prison in Ramle to demand the release of Jewish prisoners alongside the Palestinian prisoner release. According to the protesters, this would make the deal more fair, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Amihai Zeliger, brother of Shlomo Dvir, a member of the “Bat Ayin Underground” terrorist group in Judea, also attended the protest, saying if you’re going to release these murderers, then it’s only fair that you also release our brothers, who there is no chance and it’s been proven that they won’t return to what they did. “Use a bit of logic, and Jewish sympathy and make this happen.”

The protesters were a small group, about 20 people, mostly from the West Bank—a far cry from the Palestinian support for the impending release of 104 Palestinian prisoners.

There were at most a couple dozen people, mainly from the West Bank, including far-right activist Baruch Marzel, as well as members of the right-wing Honenu organization. As much as half of the protesters were young children, brought by their parents to take part in the protest. There were no political leaders or parliamentarians present at the protest.

The protest follows a meeting in July in which relatives of Israelis imprisoned for “security crimes,” along with Honenu—a group “which provides legal assistance to Israeli Jews accused of nationalist crimes against Palestinians”—discussed the release of Israeli prisoners, the Jerusalem Post reported. Honenu chairman Shmuel Meidad said:

“We have a simple and just request – after so many murderers and terrorists have been released in Israel, we ask for the release of a small number of people who carried out these acts in response to terrorism,” he said.

On Tuesday, Israel began the release of Palestinian prisoners, the Associated Press reports.

Romy Zipken is a writer and editor at Jewcy. Her Twitter feed is @RomyZipken.