DNA

One of the most disturbing facts of the current balagan surrounding the Federman home is what has happened to Elisheva Federman in forcing her to give a sample of her DNA. I am not talking about forcing her to remove her headcovering, which was bad enough. It was clearly an intimidation tactic, as DNA is gathered nowadays by cheek swabs or saliva. No, my issue is why does the government need Elisheva's DNA in the first place? This is only used in criminal cases such as murder and has absolutely no relevance to anything here. Or does it?

Contrary to some news reports, this is not the first time such a demand has been made of individuals from the national camp who have been arrested and detained. In September 2007, Women in Green leader Nadia Matar was arrested at Kikar Paris in Jerusalem. There was no legal reason whatsoever for her arrest, it was pure harassment, and which, by the way, was done by the same violent yassam thugs that forced their way into the Federman home at 1 a.m., Oct.25. (not meaning necessarily the exact same individuals - but rather the type of unit used). I was there, I saw the violence and brutality of the yassamniks, and as bad as it was, I think was much worse for Elisheva.

In Nadia's trial, for which I was also present, the demand for fingerprinting and DNA sample was imposed upon Nadia and the other woman arrested with her, even after their case was dropped (since it was purely political it couldn't stand up in court). It was just before Yom Kippur, and the police would not release the women without the sampling. What crime did they commit? None. Nada. Zip.

But, for some reason, the government wants DNA samples from people in the national camp - from those who love and believe in settling the Land of Israel. Why?

I shudder to think of some of the possible reasons ...... you can fill in the blanks. I don't know the real reason it is being demanded, I just know it is not legitimate and it does not bode well for the national camp. Who is giving the order to collect the DNA samples?

The public needs to know this is happening. The public needs to ask the obvious questions. The public needs to demand that this practice stop.