PLO: Proposed Israeli law increasing jail sentences for stone throwers that target moving cars is “racist”

Headline: “The [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs condemned the punishing of prisoners and stone throwers”
     “The [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs condemned today [June 1, 2015], Monday morning, the fact that the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation of the extremist Israeli government supported two bills directed against the Palestinian nation and its prisoners. The first decision (i.e., proposal) is to impose excessive punishments on stone throwers, and the second is a ban on prisoners calling their families. The Commission stated: ‘The forcing of racist laws such as these upon the Palestinian nation and its prisoners expresses the direction of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s new extremist right-winged government. Israel’s government confirms day after day that it is a body that does not respect [the fact] that the Palestinian individual is human, and that it thinks itself to be above all the norms, laws, and principles of human rights. It should be noted that the current Israeli law imposes imprisonment of up to 20 years on whoever throws stones at someone on a road or in his car, but the prosecution must prove that the thrower had the intention to harm the driver, or cause damage to the car and threaten their security. The bill grants the court the authority to impose imprisonment of 10 years on whoever throws stones, explosives, or objects at a moving car. The law only requires of the prosecution that it prove that the thrower had criminal intent, and that he knew that what he was doing could endanger the driver or the vehicle, without a need to prove that he intended to cause them damage.”

Note: Israeli Justice Minister (from May 2015) Ayelet Shaked is promoting legislation aimed at increasing the punishment to stone-throwers, in order to provide legal tools to handle situations the current legislation does not cover.