YOU WON! YOU WON! (from: You Can't Say, "I didn't Know")

The following WAS an appeal from Nadia Matar - And Now, Tirzah has been released!

Nadia wrote an article which was passed around emails and posted on various sites and blogs like this one: "Very few people are up to date concerning the case of Tirzah Sariel, a 15 -year-old girl from Samaria, who has been in jail for two and a half months. I want to describe her case, so that we will take joint, and immediate, action to release Tirzah from the Nevei Tirzah prison.

About ten months ago there was an incident involving several Jewish girls and Arab olive harvesters. The Arabs claimed that the girls - how horrible - poured a bucket full of olives on the ground. The police naturally believed the Arabs and wanted to arrest one of the girls. The rest of the girls, including Tirzah Sariel, protested against the arrest attempt, and told the police: "Arrest us, too," and so six girls were arrested. They were released a few days later, and a case was opened against all of them, with no end of false accusations. Tirzah announced that she would not appear for the court proceedings because she does not recognize the court's authority, as long as the judicial system does not operate in accordance with the laws of the Torah.

Before the beginning of the trial, two and a half months ago, they came to arrest Tirzah. It was decided that, since she does not cooperate with the system and would not appear for the hearings of her own free will, she must remain in custody until the end of the judicial proceedings. The law dictates that when a trial is underway and the defendant is incarcerated, the judge must speed up the proceedings and prevent the defendant from remaining in jail for a long time before the trial. The judge in Tirzah's case, Justice Uri Ben-Dor, however, did not act in accordance with this law, and decided that the next hearing in Tirzah's trial would be held four months later. In other words, Justice Uri Ben-Dor ruled that a fifteen-year-old girl will remain in jail for four months, just to wait for the next session of the trial. Even the prosecutor jumped up and said: "Just a minute, we are talking about a 15-year-old child who is sitting in jail, we must accelerate the proceedings." Justice Ben-Dor replied: "That is of no interest to me." Ben-Dor also made sure to express what he thinks about the Land of Israel loyalist public when he said: "You [settlers] are a public that knows to take all the time, but does not know how to give." With such a political and racist statement, it is no wonder that he is acting against a girl who lives in a settlement in Samaria.

Tirzah has already been incarcerated for two and a half months in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem...."

Nadia then asked people to make a fax campaign, and YOU WON!!!!!!!


Nadia: "Our public, whether or not it agrees with Tirzah's position, must rise up against this abuse. Takhlis - the Bottom Line: What Can YOU DO?

1) File written complaints against Justice Uri Ben-Dor with the Office of the Commission for Public Complaints against Judges, 5 Nahum Heftzadi Street, Beit Ofer, Givat Shaul, Jerusalem 95484.
Telephone: 972-2-6595511 Fax: 972-2-6595516
We must complain about the judge not acting in accordance with the law, by not speeding up the proceedings. How can he allow a fifteen-year-old girl to rot in jail for four months, with murderers and other criminals, just to wait for the next court session? This is unforgettable and unforgivable.
What did you do today for the release from Neveh Tirzah of Tirzah Sariel, the fifteen-year-old girl? "

Well, with G-d's help, you all did it! Tirzah will be at home now with her family for the Holidays and has been freed. Please read:

Court Orders Girl Released from Prison
16:55 Sep 19, '06 / 26 Elul 5766
by Hillel Fendel

Dozens of protest faxes apparently did the trick, and Tirtzah Sariel, 15, was abruptly feed from prison today, after weeks of wrongful imprisonment.
Her parents were notified last night that she would be brought to the District Court in Jerusalem this morning at 10:30, before Justice Noam Solberg. The case had been running until now in the lower-level Magistrates Court. Tirtzah's next scheduled court date, as of yesterday, was several weeks from now, well after the Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Simchat Torah holidays. Until then, she was to have remained in prison - for having fought with Arab olive-pickers.

Justice Solberg ruled today that the girl must be immediately freed from jail - but the prosecution asked for 24 hours in which to appeal the decision. Shmuel Medad, head of the Honenu civil rights organization, predicted that it was possible the request would be withdrawn shortly afterwards, and within an hour, he was proved right. The judge said that even were Tirtzah to be convicted of the crime of which she was originally arrested for - pouring out an Arab bucket of olives - she would have sat in prison for less time than she has already been there.

Tirtzah refused to sign any papers in connection with the case, saying she does not recognize a Jewish court system that does not operate according to Jewish Law.Tirtzah's mothe, who was present at the court hearing, told Arutz-7 afterwards, "The prosecutor, in a last-ditch attempt to save face for the Prosecution, gave a whole lecture saying that she had to be punished for not recognizing the court system. It just shows that she was in prison for two and a half months all because she has different opinions than they do!"

An impromptu welcome-home party will be held at Tirtzah's home in Elon Moreh, with many of her friends who visited and spoke to her by phone in prison over the past weeks. Nadia Matar, co-founder of Women in Green, wrote an article on Arutz-7's Hebrew website last week, calling for faxes to be sent to the Commission of Public Complaints against Judges. Matar explained, "We must complain that Justice Ori Ben-Dor acted unlawfully by not speeding up the legal proceeding in the case, and by allowing a 15-year-old girl to rot in prison for four months until the next scheduled court session." Even the prosecutor in the case said, at a recent session, that a four-month hiatus before the next session was too long for a 15-year-old girl, but the judge said, "I'm not interested."