{Israel’s parliament imposed tougher penalties of up to 20 years prison for people throwing stones at vehicles and roads, a move one Palestinian official branded racist and excessive.}<\/p>\n
Lawmakers voted 69 to 17 to increase the punishments late on Monday, approving legislation proposed after a wave of Palestinian protests last year in East Jerusalem.
\n“Tolerance toward terrorists ends today. A stone-thrower is a terrorist and only a fitting punishment can serve as a deterrent and just punishment,” Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, of the far-right Jewish Home party, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Confrontations between Palestinian youths and Israeli police routinely degenerate into violent clashes usually resulting into huge losses on Palestinian side, and stone-throwing has been a symbol of Palestinian resistance since the first Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, against Israel in the late 1980s and early 1990s.<\/p>\n
Human rights groups have criticized Israel for using excessive force including live fire in suppressing Palestinian demonstrations, causing dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.<\/p>\n
The new law allows for a sentence of up to 20 years in jail for throwing a rock at a vehicle with the intent of causing bodily harm and 10 years in prison if intent was not proven.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors in such cases have usually sought sentences of no more than three months in jail when the offense does not result in serious injury.<\/p>\n
Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoner Club, an organization that advocates on behalf of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, said the new law was “racist”.<\/p>\n
“This law is hateful and contradicts the most basic rule that the punishment fit the offense,” he said.<\/p>\n
The law would cover territory including East Jerusalem, but not the occupied West Bank, most of which is under the jurisdiction of the Israeli military.<\/p>\n
Israel hands down about 1,000 indictments a year for rock-throwing, according to the Israeli Knesset.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government faced growing calls to take action after the Palestinian protests in 2014 over the Gaza attack and the burning alive of a Palestinian teenager.<\/p>\n
During the protests, stones were regularly thrown at the city’s light railway.
\nThe new legislation was originally promoted by Shaked’s predecessor, centrist Tzipi Livni.<\/p>\n
The Palestinians seek a state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014<\/p>\n
World Bulletin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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