An open letter from Palestinian students to their peers in Europe

21 October 2011 | Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel, Gaza

We Palestinian students of the Gaza Strip wish to send a message to all European student groups in solidarity with the Palestinians to do all they can to increase Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel this academic year.

We also reiterate our support for the recent call by Palestinian Civil Society, of which we are a signatory, to end all collaborative research between European Universities and Israeli universities.^[1] Research centers in Israeli academic institutions are actively involved in fuelling Israel’s huge weapons industry and tools of its military occupation and siege. It is this apparatus of violence that makes studying in Gaza so difficult, not to mention the daily toils and tragedy of Israeli apartheid policies. We, therefore, call for an end to this compliance on all campuses with those directly complicit in the war crimes and colonial subjugation of us the Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank,‘48 Palestine and throughout the Diaspora.

These are crucial times as we youth in Gaza are seeing glimpses of the kinds of mass international movement that we are certain will one day bring us the liberation, justice and equality expected by others but denied to us for so long. Each university that boycotts, divests and sanctions from Israel’s apartheid regime is standing on the right side of history, just as students played a huge role in boycotting South Africa’s ugly and similarly racist apartheid regime until it fell in 1994.

Yet apartheid against Palestinians since then has only become more entrenched. In response, our call for boycott from over 170 organisations from Palestinian civil society in 2005^[2] has been a lightning rod for others who can relate to our plight. When endorsing the successful boycott and ending of ties between the University of Johannesburg and Ben Gurion University (BGU) this year, the first of its kind, Archbishop Desmond Tutu said:

“While Palestinians are not able to access universities and schools, Israeli universities produce the research, technology, arguments and leaders for maintaining the occupation. BGU is no exception. By maintaining links to both the Israeli Defence Forces and the arms industry, BGU structurally supports and facilitates the Israeli occupation.” ^[3]

There was no negotiating with such oppression based on race – there was only one word: BOYCOTT. Just as students around the world were banning Barclays bank from campuses for their investment in South African Apartheid in the 1980s, this year we call on you to take similar steps to end Israel’s systematic brutality. To say, “We will no longer be complicit!”, in the decades of ethnic cleansing, military occupation, medieval blockade that has lead to so much tragedy and broken dreams for our youth and students.

Our spirits have been raised by the BDS efforts so far in European Universities, exemplified by Kings College where students and academics have begun a campaign against the research collaboration between their university and Ahava, the cosmetics company based in an illegal settlement. Such long term campaigns are what is required, the cutting edge of international resistance. We ask you to do whatever it takes to isolate and hold Israel to account until it abides by international law and accepts basic premises of human rights and equality for all, including us Palestinians.

This year it is in your hands to see that the tide finally turns across the campuses in Western countries that most enable the Israeli regime’s crimes against us to continue. We hope you put BDS at the forefront of your campaigns and join together for the Israeli Apartheid Week^[4],, the pinnacle of action across universities worldwide. And while the walls around us stop us from meeting in person, we have many students and youth happy to participate in skype conferences and other collaborations. We give you all our solidarity and send you our dearest wishes to do us proud this year.

[1] http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/dont-collaborate-with-apartheid-8202#.Tp-H9Vv9oY1

[2] http://www.bdsmovement.net/bdsintro#.Tp-L81v9oY0

[3] http://www.middleeastmonitor.org.uk/articles/africa/1556-israeli-ties-a-chance-to-do-the-right-thing

[4] http://apartheidweek.org/

Israeli mistreatment of Palestinian political prisoners: Free Majd Ziada now!

21 October 2011 | Prisoner of the Day Campaign

Majd Ziada was barely out of his teens when he got arrested by the Israeli Occupation Forces. It was at the height of the second Intifada in 2002 when the Israeli army during its collective arrest campaign detained Majd on the evening of the Israeli invasion of the twin cities Ramallah and Al-Bireh. He was 19 years old.

Before he got arrested, Majd enjoyed playing basketball at Ramallah’s First Club in al-Tira. With the outbreak of the second intifada however, life became more grim. He lost his best friend who was killed by the Israeli soldiers, and Majd himself was once used as a human shield where he was forced to walk in front of the Israeli tanks. Just before he was due to take his final exams of his senior year (tawjehi) the Occupying Army raided his home and dragged him out where he was bundled into a jeep. His family knew nothing about his whereabouts or condition for fifty days after his arrest. They then learned from a newspaper that he had been beaten up in custody.

: Free Majd Ziada – Click here to sign petition

When he was four years old, Majd witnessed the arrest the of his politically active father, Mahmoud. He told his dad, “Don’t worry Baba, I will take care of my mother and baby sister.” In the absence of his father, his mother worked to support the young family. It was left up to Majd to look after his baby sister Raya, as he carried her, fed her, put her to sleep. His father was in and out of prison a total of seven times, and was never once convicted of anything. But because of the mangled policies of administrative detention, it was “legal” to arrest him and keep him detained for any period of time without ever knowing the reason why.

In a 2009 interview, Mahmoud Ziada recalls: “The Israeli soldiers searched our home, then they handcuffed me and took me to the military jeep that was standing in front of our house. As I was climbing into the jeep, my five year old son Majd shouted through the window ‘Baba Mahmoud, don’t lose courage!’”

Majd accompanied his mother to visit his father in prison, and he used to go with her to national meetings. At demonstrations he would shout national slogans and sing national songs.Initially, for Majds role as the getaway driver in a shooting of a mailman in a settlement, Majd was sentenced to 15 years in prison despite the fact the mailman turned out to be Palestinian and did not want to press charges. At his appeal, the military court (which tries all Palestinian prisoners) gave him an extra 15 years for a defiant statement he gave:

I do not believe in this court because it is an unjust one. I am opposed to the occupation and I will remain opposed to the occupation, so go ahead and sentence me. I will join my brothers and sisters in jail and consider it a badge of honor.

The unfair trial is not all. Two of the other three that were involved have already been released (including the actual shooter).

Majd suffers from a life threatening condition. He lost his hearing in his right ear due to acute ear inflammation, which could have been prevented had he received adequate medical attention. There is a huge risk that the disease could spread to the rest of his body, rendering it fatal, and so he desperately needs surgery.

His family are granted rare permission to visit him in prison. For the first seven years of his imprisonment only his youngest sister Hurriyah was able to visit him due to her status as a minor. After she turned sixteen, visits became more harder to procure. Afterwards limited permission was given to their mother to visit him once every few months. Last year Majd’s father was finally granted permission by the Israeli Prison Service to see his son. The last time Majd saw his family was two months ago, after a five year gap. Hurriyah and her mother were the lucky ones to go, as only two people are allowed on visits.

His sister Hurriyah has this to say: “I haven’t been able to hug my brother Majd Ziada for ten years because of the Israeli Occupation. When Majd was imprisoned I was 12, now I am 22.”

Majd Mahmoud Ahmad Ziada has been on hunger strike for 22 days.

We hold on to hope for his wonderful family and we ask for everyone to share this petition in the hope that perhaps Israel will release him in the next 550 prisoners set to be released over the next two months.

Take the time to help bring Majd Ziada closer to freedom by signing this petition.

The global intifada

16 October 2011 | Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, Jamal Juma

Palestine is an international symbol of struggle against occupation, racism, and colonialism. On October 15, 2011 the world gathers in what some have called a global intifada, to stand up against imperialism.

The first time an international activist came up to me and sincerely thanked me for a speech in which I had promised that we as Palestinians would never give up our struggle until we have reached liberation and justice, I was surprised. Now I have learned to understand the importance of our struggle for the rest of the world and the responsibility that necessarily follows. As long as Palestine resists, there is hope for more than our own people.

In 2010, The South African Trade Union Congress wrote, “The (Palestinian) struggle has become a global symbol of resistance against apartheid, occupation and colonialism in our age.”

This statement describes exactly my experience in over a decade of innumerable encounters and collaborations with international activists from all over the globe. The Palestinian struggle not only has a global dimension, it has inspired people globally.

Whether it’s British activists ready to go to prison for their solidarity actions with Palestine, a deeply felt speech by an activist of the farmers’ movement in Mozambique recalling the Palestinian resistance, or the fact that a Palestinian will never go without a standing ovation in front of a Cuban audience, theirs are true expressions of global solidarity with Palestine. Other deep gestures of togetherness and common struggle were the tribal ceremony in which I received from one of the elders of the First Nations in Canada a ring to protect me from my enemies, or the residents in Norway’s most northern city forming two competing solidarity groups, or the signs reading “Occupy Wall Street, Not Palestine” and “Tear Down This Wall Street” appearing on the banners of the protesters in the popular movements of the United States who are standing up right now in their streets, demanding justice.

We have all seen the slogan, “We are all Palestinians.” The Palestinian cause and our resistance to Israeli occupation and apartheid are an intrinsic part of the imagination of many people and the global struggle against colonialism, racism, and war. People all over the world stand in solidarity because they know our struggle is also their struggle. This connection is the true global solidarity.

Our symbols of struggle, like the keffiyeh, have become symbols of struggle all across the globe. The word Intifada is understood in almost all languages of the world. The Mexican activists in Oaxaca in 2006 called their uprising an Intifada and many Kashmiris use the term as well.

Our common, borderless struggle is the reason why Stop the Wall calls each year for the International Week against the Apartheid Wall. From 9 to 16 November in Palestine and around the globe–from Australia to Canada, and from Norway to Argentina–people will mobilize for worldwide actions to participate in this global action week. This year, once again, we will be able to feel this spirit of solidarity and joint struggle for our liberation as part of the global struggle for justice, peace and humanity as part of the emerging global Intifada.

There are moral, political, and historical reasons that the Palestinian struggle is an international symbol. Each one of these reasons is in and of itself a victory for the movement to free Palestine and can be credited to Palestinian grassroots activists.

After centuries of suffering caused by colonialism’s system of racial discrimination, slavery, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and slow genocide, the world’s people now feel a moral obligation to protect human rights. The effects and conditions of imperialism have been rejected as the mechanisms of tyranny and destruction of our species. Today, in modern times, those under occupation in Palestine face human rights violations of the kind experienced by colonial subjects, which gives the Palestinian solidarity movement a moral imperative.

The strength of our people and our steadfastness against Israeli occupation is an inspiration. Israel’s unique combination of colonialism, apartheid, occupation, and drive to permanently displace our people creates a multilayered system of mechanisms of repression. Many around the world admire the fact that the Palestinians haven’t surrendered.

Palestinians have a strong identity and a large diaspora. Those that have been deported, relocated, exiled, or who have migrated from Palestine have sought abode in the rest of the world’s countries as refugees or immigrants. The over six million refugees, despite facing pervasive discrimination, have been able to live and identify themselves proudly as Palestinians. They have not only preserved their culture and identity but also challenged conditions of poverty and isolation, so as to keep the Palestinian struggle in the hearts and minds of the world.

Historically, the Palestinian popular resistance against occupation has not isolated itself but become part of international political alliances, especially those existing before the Cold War ended. Palestinian revolutionaries identified themselves with other struggles around the world, such as the struggle against apartheid in South Africa by sending resources and other support to the resistance movement. Good relationships with progressive countries were built intentionally, while the wider network of solidarity was cultivated consciously.

And finally, Palestine in its confrontation with Israel represents the global progressive movement’s confrontation with imperialism and colonialism far beyond the Middle East. As Palestinians stand up to Israeli crimes, peace, freedom, and justice are strengthened for all.

Today, the moral and political support that Palestine has received historically from the international community is reflected back to us in the inspired actions of the alter-globalization movement. It has served as an inspiration for nearby and global spheres, from Tunis to New York City, as masses of citizens recognize the destruction of imperial globalization.

At the beginning of this year, the people in the Arab world rose up, took to the streets and squares, and made crucial steps on the long road towards a just and free Middle East. The Palestinian Intifada has become Arab; the walls of fear from dictatorship have been torn down. People in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria, and beyond have inspired the world with their courage. They have shown that people, determined and united, can make a difference. They themselves have been inspired by the Palestinian Intifadas, the actions of popular struggle and endurance of Palestinian resistance, and the dignity displayed by innumerable Palestinian activists in front of repression, arrests, torture and humiliation. Now, uniting in a day of action on 15 October, the mobilization of people all over the world occupying streets and square has been expression of what has recently been coined the first global Intifada.

However, the global impact of the Palestinian struggle is not only an outcome of our struggle, it is the result of the very character of our oppression. The over six million Palestinian refugees who have been expelled by Israel from their homes and lands and who have been scattered all over the world for more than sixty years are now ambassadors for our cause. Furthermore, the Palestinian struggle is a global issue by creation. It was the international community gathered in the United Nations that decided the fate of our lands–completely ignoring our right to self-determination–and which has, over the decades, documented Israeli violations of our human rights and international law, condemning them regularly but never acting to stop them.

Knowing that we are linked not only by the complicity of the governments and corporations that support and profit from Israeli apartheid, but also by a common struggle with people around the world is important. It is necessary we remind ourselves over and over about this.

The October 15, 2011 day of protest has galvanized people around the globe and in Palestine. Together, as a unified front against racism and imperialism, a spirit of solidarity for liberation of all people, Palestine stands against imperialism on October 15 and every day.

Jamal Juma is the coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign.

Occupy Wall Street not Palestine!

13 October 2011 | Palestinian BDS National Committee

Occupy Wall Street not Palestine! We are part of the world’s 99% yearning for freedom, justice and equal rights!

If a people one day wills to live

fate must answer its call

And the night must fade

and the chain must break

– Abou-Al-kacem El-Chebbi (Tunisia)

Occupied Palestine, October 13 -The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the largest Palestinian civil society coalition struggling for Palestinian rights, is proud to stand in solidarity with the movements struggling for a new world based on democracy, human rights and economic justice. From New York to Athens, from Madrid to Santiago, from Bahrain to Rome, these huge mobilisations provide a much needed reminder of something that Palestinians have always known – that another world, a dignifying one, is possible and ordinary people can create it.

Our aspirations overlap; our struggles converge. Our oppressors, whether greedy corporations or military occupations, are united in profiting from wars, pillage, environmental destruction, repression and impoverishment. We must unite in our common quest for freedoms, equal rights, social and economic justice, environmental sanity, and world peace. We can no longer afford to be splintered and divided; we can no longer ignore our obligations to join hands in the struggle against wars and corporate exploitation and for a human-friendly world community not a profit-maximizing jungle.

The Occupy Wall Street movement and its counterparts across the US, Europe, Latin America and elsewhere are — at least partially — inspired by the Arab Spring for democracy and social justice. Leaders of the Arab popular revolts tell us that they, in turn, were largely inspired by our own, decades-old struggle against Israel’s occupation of our land, its system of discrimination that matches the UN’s definition of apartheid, and its denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return home.

The rapidly emerging movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law is a key and effective part of the Palestinian struggle. Anchored in universal principles of human rights and struggling for freedom, justice and equality, the BDS movement, established in 2005, is deeply rooted in decades of Palestinian peaceful resistance to colonial oppression and is inspired by the South African struggle against apartheid as well as the civil rights movement in the US. It is adopted by a near consensus among Palestinians everywhere, with all the main political parties, trade unions, professional syndicates, women’s unions, student groups, NGO networks and refugee advocacy networks represented in the BNC, the reference for this growing movement to end Israeli impunity.

The Palestinian-led BDS movement is a global effort of groups, from South Africa to Britain, from Canada to India, and within Israel itself, all committed to ending Israel’s denial of basic Palestinian rights. It is endorsed by towering moral leaders of the calibre of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Holocaust survivor and co-author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Stephane Hessel. It is supported by world renowned cultural and intellectual figures such as Alice Walker, Naomi Klein, Roger Waters, Judith Butler, Sarah Schulman, John Berger, Ken Loach, John Greyson, and Adrienne Rich. Massive trade union federations such as COSATU (South Africa), CUT (Brazil), TUC (UK), ICTU (Ireland), among many others, have also adopted BDS.

The movement has scored in the last two years some spectacular achievements when internationally renowned artists and music groups heeded the cultural boycott of Israel and refused to perform there or cancelled scheduled appearances. These have included the Pixies, Elvis Costello, Snoop Dogg, Meg Ryan, Vanessa Paradis, Gil Scott-Heron, among many others. The Norwegian state pension fund, among others, major European banks and some corporations have all been convinced to divest from businesses implicated in Israel’s violations of international law. Increasingly, BDS is recognized as a civic movement capable of ending Israeli impunity and, crucially, contributing to the global struggle against the war-mongering, racist agenda which Israel has persistently played a key role in.

So as you break your own chains and build your own effective resistance against corporate tyranny, we ask you to demand a just peace for all the peoples in the Middle East, based on international law and equal human rights. Palestinians, too, are part of the 99% around the world that suffer at the hands of the 1% whose greed and ruthless quest for hegemony have led to unspeakable suffering and endless war. Corporate power has not just profited from our suffering but has colluded in maintaining Israel’s occupation and apartheid to perpetuate an unjust order that profits oil and military companies and multinational financial institutions.

We call upon all the spreading social movements of the world to think critically when considering their attitude towards the Israeli ‘social justice’ protests, which have almost completely ignored the key issue at the heart of all of the problems faced by ordinary Palestinians and even Israelis: Israel’s costly system of occupation, colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people. Without putting an end to that multi-tiered Israeli system of oppression, our entire region will never enjoy a comprehensive and lasting peace, one that is based on justice and human rights.

Money for jobs, health and education, not for racist oppression and occupation!
Nowhere is this more important than in the United States. Despite Israel’s persistent denial of Palestinian rights, the US has provided Israel with unconditional political and military assistance that directly contributes to the denial of Palestinian rights, but also to the problems faced by ordinary US citizens. Could the $24bn of military aid provided to Israel in the period 2000-2009 not been better spent on schools, healthcare and other essential services? Did Israel not play a major role in prodding the US to launch and continue its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at immense human and material cost, mainly borne by the poorest in those countries?

But, we must remind ourselves all the time that this struggle will never be easy, and reaching our objectives never inevitable. As Martin Luther King once said:

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.

The refreshing scenes of determined peaceful protest for justice from around the world tell us that we, the 99% of the world, are in the process of straightening our backs, collectively, with unwavering fortitude and boundless hope.

– BNC Secretariat

Military court rejects motion to release Bassem Tamimi

12 October 2011 | Popular Struggle Coordination Committee

A judge at the Ofer Military Court ruled yesterday that Palestinian protest organizer, Bassem Tamimi, will remain in prison indefinitely, until the end of his trial. The judge denied a motion filed by Tamimi’s defense lawyer, adv. Labib Habib, to revisit a prior decision to hold Tamimi until the end of legal proceedings.

The motion to release Tamimi was filed nearly seven months after his arrest, and while only one witness was heard by the court in his case during that period. The defense argued that with the trial being conducted at such a slow pace, Tamimi will not receive a fair trial or a chance to fight for his innocence. With only one of 24 prosecution witnesses heard in seven months, the duration Tamimi’s trial is expected to exceed the anticipated sentence, even in case Tamimi will be convicted by the court.

The defense also pointed out the fact that three hearings were canceled so far at the fault of the prosecution, including one to which their witnesses did not show up and another to which the wrong witnesses were summoned by the prosecutor.

Tamimi’s lawyer also argued that the one testimony that was heard (click here for a summery of the hearing), that on a military commander who was in charge of dealing with the Nabi Saleh demonstrations, was based on hearsay and speculation.

The judge, however, decided to deny Tamimi’s motion, and ordered him to remain in custody. In his ruling, the judge determined that not enough time has passed and that the motion was premature, despite the delays in the trials. The judge also noted that since Tamimi’s alleged accomplice, Naji Tamimi, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, a reasonable time to file a motion to revisit Tamimi’s remand decision will only be a year after his arrest.

Background
Bassem Tamimi is a veteran Palestinian grassroots activist from the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, north of Ramallah. He is married to Nariman Tamimi, with whom he fathers four children – Wa’ed (14), Ahed (10), Mohammed (8) and Salam (5).

As a veteran activist, Tamimi has been arrested by the Israeli army 11 times to date, though he was never convicted of any offense. Tamimi spent roughly three years in administrative detention, with no charges brought against him. Furthermore, his attorney and he were denied access to “secret evidence” brought against him.

In 1993, Tamimi was falsely arrested on suspicion of having murdered an Israeli settler in Beit El – an allegation of which he was cleared of entirely. During his weeks-long interrogation, he was severely tortured by the Israeli Shin Bet in order to draw a coerced confession from him. During his interrogation, and as a result of the torture he underwent, Tamimi collapsed and had to be evacuated to a hospital, where he laid unconscious for seven days. As a result of the wounds caused by torture, Tamimi was partially paralyzed for several months after his release from the hospital.

At the opening of his trial on June 5th, Tamimi pleaded “not guilty” to all charges against him, but proudly owned up to organizing protest in the village. In a defiant speech before the court he said, “I organized these peaceful demonstrations to defend our land and our people.” Tamimi also challenged the legitimacy of the very system which trys him, saying that “Despite claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East you are trying me under military laws […] that are enacted by authorities which I haven’t elected and do not represent me.”

The indictment against Tamimi is based on questionable and coerced confessions of youth from the village. He is charged with’ incitement’, ‘organizing and participating in unauthorized processions’,’ solicitation to stone-throwing’, ‘failure to attend legal summons’, and a scandalous charge of ‘disruption of legal proceedings’, for allegedly giving youth advice on how to act during police interrogation in the event that they are arrested.

The transcript of Tamimi’s police interrogation further demonstrates the police and Military Prosecution’s political motivation and disregard for suspects’ rights. During his questioning, Tamimi was accused by his interrogator of “consulting lawyers and foreigners to prepare for his interrogation”, an act that is clearly protected under the right to seek legal counsel.

As one of the organizers of the Nabi Saleh protests and coordinator of the village’s popular committee, Tamimi has been the target of harsh treatment by the Israeli army. Since demonstrations began in the village, his house has been raided and ransacked numerous times, his wife was twice arrested and two of his sons were injured; Wa’ed, 14, was hospitalized for five days when a rubber-coated bullet penetrated his leg and Mohammed, 8, was injured by a tear-gas projectile that was shot directly at him and hit him in the shoulder. Shortly after demonstrations in the village began, the Israeli Civil Administration served ten demolition orders to structures located in Area C, Tamimi’s house was one of them, despite the fact that part of the house was built in 1965 and the rest in 2005.

Legal background
On March 24th, 2011, a massive contingent of Israeli Soldiers raided the Tamimi home at around noon, only minutes after he entered the house to prepare for a meeting with a European diplomat. He was arrested and subsequently charged.

The main evidence in Tamimi’s case is the testimony of 14 year-old Islam Dar Ayyoub, also from Nabi Saleh, who was taken from his bed at gunpoint on the night of January 23rd. In his interrogation the morning after his arrest, Islam alleged that Bassem and Naji Tamimi organized groups of youth into “brigades”, charged with different responsibilities during the demonstrations: some were allegedly in charge of stone-throwing, others of blocking roads, etc.
During a trial-within-a-trial procedure in Islam’s trial, motioning for his testimony to be ruled inadmissible, it was proven that his interrogation was fundamentally flawed and violated the rights set forth in the Israeli Youth Law in the following ways:
Despite being a minor, he was questioned in the morning following his arrest, having been denied sleep.
He was denied legal counsel, although his lawyer appeared at the police station requesting to see him.
He was denied his right to have a parent present during his questioning.
He was not informed of his right to remain silent, and was even told by his interrogators that he is “expected to tell the truth”.
Only one of four interrogators present was a qualified youth interrogator.

The audio-visual recording of another central witness against Tamimi, 15 year-old Mo’atasem Tamimi, proves that he too was questioned in a similarly unlawful manner.

Since the beginning of the village’s struggle against settler takeover of their lands in December of 2009, the army has conducted 80 protest related arrests. As the entire village numbers just over 500 residents, the number constitutes approximately 10% of its population.

Tamimi’s arrest corresponds to the systematic arrest of civil protest leaders all around the West Bank, as in the case of the villages Bil’in and Ni’ilin.

Only recently the Military Court of Appeals has aggravated the sentence of Abdallah Abu Rahmah from the village of Bilin, sending him to 16 months imprisonment on charges of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations. Abu Rahmah was released on March 2011.

The arrest and trial of Abu Rahmah has been widely condemned by the international community, most notably by Britain and EU foreign minister, Catherin Ashton. Harsh criticism of the arrest has also been offered by leading human rights organizations in Israel and around the world, among them B’tselem, ACRI, as well as Human Rights Watch, which declared Abu Rahmah’s trial unfair, and Amnesty International, which declared Abu Rahmah a prisoner of conscience.