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US DHS assists in suppression of anti-corruption dissent in Israel

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Israeli judges retaliate against anti court corruption activists by unlawful, fraudulent use of their authority. US DHS/ICE colludes with them, and Google is a major partner. Spying, unreasonable detentions, unlawful search and seizure of computers, and draconian fake judgments - retaliation produces some of the best evidence of judicial corruption. Conditions in the US are similar.

OccupyTLV, June 17 - DHS/ICE refuses to respond on inquiry regarding an unusual "Information Preservation" instruction, issued to WordPress and targeting Israeli anti court corruption activist Lory Shem Tov and others. Lory is best known for her blogs and direct action, protesting corruption of the family courts in general. Particularly, protest is against the practices of welfare agencies and the courts in taking children from their biological parents and giving them to surrogates or adoption. Shem Tov and other social protest activists have often been targeted for retaliation by Israeli police and judges through unreasonable detentions, unlawful search and seizure procedures, and fraudulent court processes.

Unusual DHS actions


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Figure 1: Information Preservation letter, issued by DHS to WordPress, pertaining to blogs, mostly by Israeli anti-corruption activist Lory Shem Tov.

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The January 15, 2016 "Information Preservation" instruction was issued to WordPress/Automatic, Inc by J. Robert Klotz, Special Agent, Homeland Security Investigations, Cyber Crimes Center (C3). It requires that WordPress preserve "any and all information associated accounts" (32 blogs were listed), including "all subscriber information, account contents (images, emails, chat logs, account setting, and contacts, etc" (Figure 1). The instruction was addressed to Automattic Inc General Counsel Paul Sieminski, a well-known internet Free Speech advocate. Attorney Sieminski did not respond on request for comments either.

The inquiry on DHS asked for any comments by DHS regarding the Information Preservation instruction, in particular: Does it fall at all within the mission of the US ICE unit, since it appears that the involved blogs deal with social-political matters in Israel? DHS was prompt in answering, within less than 30 minutes, asking whether the inquiry was for publication. It then refused to comment without first obtaining the name of the intended publication outlet and "a letter of intent to publish by your editor"...

Spokeswoman of the Israeli Administration of Courts, the most likely mover in this case, failed to respond at all on inquiries, asking: Was the action initiated by the Israeli Administration of Courts? What was the foundation in Israeli law for such action?

The DHS action is unusual, since most of the blogs which are subject of this DHS instruction are blogs maintained by Israeli citizens in Israel, and the blogs deal with corruption of the Israeli courts, particularly - the family courts. The primary target appears to be Lory Shem Tov, a well-known activist against family court corruption. However, a couple of the targeted blogs post only media reports on court related matters, and one of the blogs, not owned by Lory, is simply a list of free online software and Hebrew explanation of its uses. One possible explanation for the DHS action is that US agencies also treat social-political protest in the US under "Counterterrorism"... (see below)

The case is not unique at all. Requests by the Israeli Administration of Courts to Google to remove web pages, or delete them from search engine results have been repeatedly reported by Israeli media. In an even more bizarre conduct, the Israeli courts try to prevent Google from including Israeli court rulings in Google search engine results, although the law in Israel, similar to the US is, that any person is permitted to inspect judicial records, which are not lawfully sealed. [i]

Unreasonable detentions


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Figure 2: Lory Shem Tov, Moshe HaLevy, Moti Leybel -- Israeli anti-court corruption activists are targeted for unlawful retaliation by police and the courts.

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Lory Shem Tov has been targeted by the Israeli courts for several years. She has been detained a number of times, and at least once an unreasonable detention inside a court building (on false suspicion of unlawful recording of court proceeding) involved police brutality. The most recent instance, a couple of weeks ago, appeared intended to retaliate against her for blogging on a case, involving abduction of a minor by a father, part of a family court dispute. Court transcript of the detention extension proceeding shows the unreasonable conduct by police and the judge. Lory's counsel made it clear that Lory did not know the father, that Lory objected to the father's conduct, and that Lory had no part in it. Lory's counsel argued that Police had nothing to investigate Lory about, and that if police wanted to catch the father, the most logical course of action was to leave Lory free, and track the father, while he called Lory to provide her information for her blog. Nevertheless, Lory's detention was extended. In contrast, Israeli media, often fed by police and the courts, reported that Lory was detained as suspect in collusion with the father's conduct. [ii]

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Dr Zernik's core research pertains to e-government and its significance for Human Rights and Civil Society.

His work won appreciation in Israel and abroad: * Prof Uzzi Ornan - "All power to you! I hope that you see your tremendous efforts (more...)
 
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