In a daily satirical video segment on Srugim, host Ariel Shrafer tells the story of “A,” a religious-Zionist child who once dreamed of becoming a police officer. As a child, A’s parents would warn him, “If you do not eat, the police will come,” and he initially assumed that meant the police would arrest him or force him to eat. He later realized they meant the police would hit him.
Shrafer uses the anecdote to argue that, unlike parents, police are allowed to use violence, even though they should not. He says no one is defining the boundaries of police force, or that perhaps there are none, and accuses authorities of selective enforcement. He asks why violence at ultra-Orthodox protests angers only the Haredi public, while violence at left-wing protests enrages the whole country, and why police turn demonstrators into “rags” while becoming “human batons.”
He says society’s indifference is troubling and adds that he is asking questions because “not always” are there answers. As his proposed solution, he says he supports dispersing protests without “unreasonable and unbearable force,” including illegal protests that did not receive police approval, as long as they were coordinated in advance and no one was beaten. He ends by telling police to “become police” and stop crushing children’s dreams.
A disclaimer in the video says the content is satirical, humorous, and not intended to offend. The segment is part of Srugim’s daily “Red Point” feature.
