To police superintendent Moshe Ivgi

Arad police station

Yehuda st.

Arad

80700

Dear Sir.

Our office received a complaint from a resident of Arad, Mr. Edwin Beckford, who belongs to a group of Messianic Christians living in the city. According to him, he suffers, on account of his faith, from repeated harassments by neighbors, mainly orthodox Jews. Harassments that find expression in slashing the tires of his car, in demonstrations in front of his house with signs demanding him to leave the city and the country, in trashing the entrance to his house, and other acts that hurt him severely. From Mr. Beckford’s description it appears that those harassments he suffers by his neighbors constitute a gross offence to the freedom of religion and conscience. Moreover, his complaints to the police department were not treated at all, or were treated ineffectively, and the harassments by his neighbors have been continuing for two years undisturbed and are even worsening without provocation on his side.

I will appreciate a swift dealing with the issue and I ask you to inform me of how you intend to deal with the problem.

Respectfully

Ehud Melt

Public Appeals Team

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel