Author: ISM Media Group

Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah sentenced to a year in prison

11 October 2010 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

Bil’in protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment today, for his involvement in his village’s unarmed struggle against the wall.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah was sentenced today to 12 months in prison, plus 6 months suspended sentence for 3 years and a fine of 5,000 NIS. In the sentencing, the judge cited the non-implementation of an Israeli High Court ruling which declared the current route of the wall on Bil’in’s land illegal as a mitigating factor.

The military prosecution is likely to appeal this sentencing – as they did in the case of Adeeb Abu Rahmah, who was also sentenced for 12 months on similar charges but is still in prison after 15 months, pending the decision about the prosecution’s appeal. The defense attorney, adv. Gaby Lasky, is considering an appeal against Abu Rahma’s conviction.

Today’s sentencing hearing was attended by diplomats from the United Kingdom, the European Union, Belgium, Germany along with representatives of UNSCO and Human Rights Watch.

“The Israeli army, which served as prosecutor, judge and jury in this case, is try to use Abu Rahmah to set an example that will deter people from protesting. They have even said so themselves”, said Mohammed Khatib of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. “Their message falls on deaf ears, as we have no choice but to continue struggling for our lands, our freedom and our dignity”, he added.

Background

Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was arrested last year by soldiers who raided his home at the middle of the night and was subsequently indicted before an Israeli military court on unsubstantiated charges that included stone-throwing and arms possession. Abu Rahmah was cleared of both the stone-throwing and arms possession charges, but convicted of organizing illegal demonstrations and incitement.

An exemplary case of mal-use of the Israeli military legal system in the West Bank for the purpose of silencing legitimate political dissent, Abu Rahmah’s conviction was subject to harsh international criticism. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, expressed her deep concern “that the possible imprisonment of Mr Abu Rahma is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest[…]”, after EU diplomats attended all hearings in Abu Rahmah’s case. Ashton’s statement was followed by one from the Spanish Parliament.

Renowned South African human right activist, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, called on Israel to overturn Abu Rahmah’s conviction on behalf of the Elders, a group of international public figures noted as elder statesmen, peace activists, and human rights advocates, brought together by Nelson Mandela. Members of the Elders, including Tutu, have met with Abu Rahmah on their visit to Bil’in prior to his arrest.

International human rights organizations Amnesty International condemned Abu Rahmah’s conviction as an assault on the right to freedom of expression. Human Rights Watch denounced the conviction, pronouncing the whole process “an unfair trial”.

Legal Background

Abu Rahmah, the coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, was acquitted of two out of the four charges brought against him in the indictment – stone-throwing and a ridiculous and vindictive arms possession charge. According to the indictment, Abu Rahmah collected used tear-gas projectiles and bullet cases shot at demonstrators, with the intention of exhibiting them to show the violence used against demonstrators. This absurd charge is a clear example of how eager the military prosecution is to use legal procedures as a tool to silence and smear unarmed dissent.

The court did, however, find Abu Rahmah guilty of two of the most draconian anti-free speech articles in military legislation: incitement, and organizing and participating in illegal demonstrations. It did so based only on testimonies of minors who were arrested in the middle of the night and denied their right to legal counsel, and despite acknowledging significant ills in their questioning.

The court was also undeterred by the fact that the prosecution failed to provide any concrete evidence implicating Abu Rahmah in any way, despite the fact that all demonstrations in Bil’in are systematically filmed by the army.

Under military law, incitement is defined as “The attempt, verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order” (section 7(a) of the Order Concerning Prohibition of Activities of Incitement and Hostile Propaganda (no.101), 1967), and carries a 10 years maximal sentence.

A tour of the maze of Israeli (in)justice

11 October 2010 | Stella, International Solidarity Movement

The international activists that were arrested at the demo on Saturday witnessed a 25 years old Palestinian, with mental problems, while he was extorted the confession that he was throwing stones. However he had been arrested at the very beginning of the demonstration when no one was throwing stones yet.

The other three Palestinians, all minors, were treated very violently: they had plastic restraints so tightly around their wrists that their hands were swollen. They were blindfolded and forced to kneel down and one of the younger ones was violently pushed with his head against the wall.

The international activists repeatedly asked for a doctor but the soldiers refused to call one and said the effect of the spray only would last 20 minutes. Since the effects only get worst with water, the four international activists asked to have some milk do clean themselves but the soldiers arrogantly answered that they had no cows there.

Then they were separated to be interrogated. One of the questions that the peace activists had to answer was “Why are you here?”.
One of them said that she was taking pictures of the occupation. The soldiers answered back that there is no occupation because all Palestine is part of Israel.

Three of the internationals came back late at night after ten hours in a prison. One of them, the Irish activist, was not released and had to face a trial on the 10th, in Jerusalem. The trial was quite fast as the judge just decided that the Irish activist would stay in jail till the 12th when he would have to go back to court. It seems that he had admitted that he had broken the condition they had given to him when they arrested him a couple of weeks ago at another demonstration in Beit Ummar. In fact he was supposed to stay at least 200 meters away from the settlements.

On the 12th he was moved to a detention center near Tel Aviv waiting to be deported the day after.

Madama shepherd beaten and detained by the Israeli army

2 November 2009

Madama farmer On Monday 2 November, Ma’mon Amen Fayis Nassar, a 35 year old man from Madama, near Nablus, was beaten and subsequently detained for 5 hours by Israeli soldiers with no reasoning given. In the morning, he had gone out to his family’s land some 3 km from the illegal settlement of Yitzhar and was clearing the lands of weeds while his sheep were feeding, when he was approached by three Israeli soldiers.

The soldiers promptly attacked him, striking his forehead with a riffle and kicked him while he was lying down. They shouted at him that he was a terrorist and when he grabbed a stone to defend himself with, still on the ground, they pointed their guns at him and told him that they would kill him if he didn’t drop it. He did as ordered and the soldiers handcuffed him with plastic strips, still punching him in the stomach and chest.

He was then forced into a jeep and taken to Huwwara prison, having the strip repeatedly tightened around his hands (a very painful procedure) and still being punched while he was defenseless and at the mercy of the soldiers. After this ordeal, he was put into the prison for 5 hours without any charges.

While awful, this story in itself would surprise few Palestinians. They are used to being at the mercy of the army and they know how brutal and vicious it often is. What makes this story somewhat special is that Ma’mon is mentally disabled, suffering from bouts of epilepsy and difficulty speaking and thinking after he suffered a traumatic head injury in 2004.

Yet, neither Ma’mon nor the rest of his family are unaccustomed to punishment by the Israeli army. The family told us that while their village used to be a peaceful area, there had been attacks on them every year since 2002. They recall at least 20 attacks on Ma’mon alone. Being a shepherd, Ma’mon is among the most vulnerable Palestinians, as he often has to spend a lot of time alone in the fields without other people to witness was happens to him. In 2006, he and his brother were attacked in the field and their house was soon raided by the army, killing one cow and a large number of sheep and chickens. During this ‘military operation’, all of the family was rounded up and handcuffed outside the house.

Ma’mon was put in a coma by the beatings of the army, to the extent that the army had no choice but to send him to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. When they considered him well enough to leave the hospital, he was then imprisoned in Ofer prison, where he was subjected to torture by having a dog on a leash try to attack him, which it did succeed in several times. When he was finally released, he had to spend 3 days in a hospital before he could rejoin the family. At the hospital he had to undergo surgery due to a kidney injury caused by the treatment from the Israeli army. Still today he suffers from chest pain and heavy coughing caused by the multiple attacks.

Aside from the attacks, the Nassar family faces the constant threat of their land being attacked or even stolen by the settlers from the illegal settlements of Yitzhar and Bracha. As the Israeli legal system is an odd mixture of laws from the Ottoman period, the British Mandate and modern Israel, it is jumbled and always used for the benefit of the illegal settlers and against the local Palestinians living under occupation. One such Ottoman law states that if land is not cultivated for 3 years, other people may legally begin to work it and it will officially become theirs after a period. Therefore, the Nassar family is prevented by the army from working around 40 dunams (4 hectares) of their land around Yitzhar and the settlers are just waiting to move in and take it over.

This recent attack illustrates how the army makes it dangerous for farmers all over Palestine to work even the land that is quite far away from the settlement, a deliberate tactic to force them to leave more and more farmland unattended out of fear.

EU court: No customs breaks for Israeli goods from settlements

Ora Coren | Haaretz

3 November 2009

Israeli goods produced in West Bank settlements are not eligible for customs benefits in the European Union, stated an advocate general of the European Court of Justice last week.

Israel and the EU have a free-trade agreement that gives Israeli exports substantial customs breaks.

The advocate general’s non-binding opinion, if followed, could mean that goods produced in the territories may be saddled with full customs duties.

The opinion, submitted in a case in Germany brought by water purification firm Brita in 2002, could serve as a precedent in the EU. The company was ordered to pay 19,155 euros in customs for equipment it imported from the Israeli firm Soda Club, whose factory is in the West Bank.

German customs authorities asked Israeli authorities whether the goods were produced in the territories, and when no answer was received, Brita was ordered to pay customs duties.

Brita then appealed the decision to the German court system, and the Finance Court in Hamburg requested advice on the matter from European Union legal authorities.

In the past, EU authorities have ruled that the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem are also part of the “occupied territories,” but in this case, the advocate general said his opinion referred only to the West Bank and Gaza.

Currently, for goods from the territories to receive customs breaks, they must bear a certificate issued by the Palestinian Authority.

The disagreement with the EU over Israeli exports from the territories has been going on for a long time. At one point, the EU threatened sanctions against all Israeli exports if an agreement was not reached. However, Israel refused to label or otherwise differentiate products from the settlements.

Five years ago, Israel and the EU agreed that all exports would be labeled with the place of manufacture, or the factory’s zip code, and the EU customs authorities would then decide whether to levy customs.

Israeli exports to the EU totalled $17.8 million in 2008, of which only a tiny fraction were from the territories. However, Der Spiegel recently reported that a third of Israeli exports to Europe are made in part or in full in the territories.

Evicted Sheikh Jarrah families demonstrate outside of US consulate

2 November 2009

Sheikh Jarrah DemoOn Monday 2 November 2009 between 11 and 12am, a quiet demonstration was held outside the USA consulate in East Jerusalem, close to the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood. Coinciding with USA foreign secretary Hillary Clinton’s visit to Israel, the demonstration asked for the USA to apply more pressure on Israel and stop the home confiscations and evictions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah.

The demonstration gathered about 30-40 demonstrators and was covered by a number of press reporters. In addition to Sheikh Jarrah families, participant organizations included Ta’ayush, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, International Solidarity Movement, Michigan Peace Team, and Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. A police vehicle with heavily armed police officers arrived after five minutes and maintained a peripheral position for the remainder of the demonstration.