Tag: Arrests

Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah cleared of stone-throwing; convicted of incitement

24 August 2010 | Popular Struggle

Picture credit: Oren Ziv/ActiveStills

Protest organizer Abdallah Abu Rhamah from Bil’in was convicted of incitement and organizing illegal demonstrations today, after an eight months long military trial, during which he was kept behind bars. He was acquitted of a stone-throwing charge and a vindictive arms-possession charge.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah’s verdict was read today in a packed military court room, concluding an eight months long politically motivated show-trial. Diplomats from France, Malta, Germany, Spain and the UK, as well as a representative of the European Union were in attendance to observe the trial. Many of his friends, supporters and family members showed up to send their support.

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.

Abu Rahmah’s case was the first time the prosecution had used the organizing and participating in illegal demonstrations since the first Intifada. Military law defines illegal assembly in a much stricter way than Israeli law does, and in practice forbids any assembly of more than 10 people without receiving a permit from the military commander.

Abu Rahmah’s sentencing will take place next month, and the prosecution is expected to ask for a sentence exceeding two years.

Click here for the complete verdict (Hebrew, .pdf)

Background

Last year, on the night of International Human Right Day, Thursday December 10th, at 2am, Abdallah Abu Rahmah was arrested from his home in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Seven military jeeps surrounded his house, and Israeli soldiers broke the door, took Abdallah from his bed and, after briefly allowing him to say goodbye to his wife Majida and their three children — seven year-old Luma, five year-old Lian and eight month-old baby Laith — they blindfolded him and took him into custody.

Abu Rahmah did not find himself behind bars because he is a dangerous man. Abdallah, who is amongst the leaders of the Palestinian village of Bil’in, is viewed as a threat for his work in the five-year unarmed struggle to save the village’s land from Israel’s wall and expanding settlements.

As a member of the Popular Committee and its coordinator since it was formed in 2004, Abdallah has represented the village of Bil’in around the world. In June 2009, he attended the village’s precedent-setting legal case in Montreal against two Canadian companies illegally building settlements on Bil’in’s land; in December of 2008, he participated in a speaking tour in France, and on 10 December 2008, exactly a year before his arrest, Abdallah received the Carl Von Ossietzky Medal for Outstanding Service in the Realization of Basic Human Rights, awarded by the International League for Human Rights in Berlin.

Last summer Abdallah was standing shoulder to shoulder with Nobel Peace laureates and internationally renowned human rights activists, discussing Bil’in’s grassroots campaign for justice when The Elders visited his village. This summer, he may be sent to years in prison, exactly for his involvement in this campaign.

Storm over Israeli ‘abuse’ photos

16 August 2010 | Al Jazeera

A former Israeli soldier has sparked controversy after posting pictures of herself posing with bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners on the internet.

Eden Abergil uploaded photographs into a folder entitled “Army- the best time of my life” on Facebook. They show her posing provocatively with the men, prompting lurid comments from other users of the popular social networking site.

The pictures and associated comments were discovered by bloggers, who circulated them on the internet on Monday.

Palestinians have long claimed that they are subject to humiliating and degrading treatment while held in Israeli custody, but Israeli authorities have always rejected such allegations.

The Israeli military has sought to distance itself from the controversy, saying Abergil is no longer a serving member of the country’s army.

“This is shameless behaviour by the soldier,” a military spokesman told Al Jazeera. “In light of the fact that she was discharged last year, all of the details have been turned over to the commanders for further attention.”

Humiliating treatment

Abergil was discharged from the military a year ago, meaning authorities had no power to prevent her from posting the pictures on the internet. The photographs were removed from the website late on Monday.

But Ghassan Khatib, the Palestinian Authority spokesman, said that the images typified the treatment meted out to Palestinians by Israeli troops.

“This is an example of life under occupation,” he said. “All aspects of occupation are humiliating. We call on the international organisations, starting with the UN, to work hard to end the occupation, because it is the source of humiliation for Palestinians and a source of corruption for the Israelis.”

It is not the first time that the Israeli military has been embarrassed by material posted on the internet. In March this year, officers were forced to call off a raid in the West Bank after a soldier posted details, including the time and place, of the operation on Facebook before it took place.

Earlier this year, the Israeli military set up a special unit to monitor information posted online. Members of the unit scan websites including Facebook, Twitter and MySpace looking for sensitive or embarrassing material.

Israeli authorities have issued strict instructions to soldiers regarding the type of information and photographs that they may post online about themselves and their military service.

Army violently attack Hebron demo again – yet only an innocent British peace activist is charged with assault

15 August 2010 | International Solidarity Movement

On Saturday Palestinians were joined by internationals and Israelis in their weekly demonstration, asking for the opening of Shuhada Street and responding to the closure of three shops in the old city earlier in the week. The Israeli army, represented by soldiers and border police, entered from the gate leading to Shuhada Street, and pushed the protesters back up the street they came from. Several people were pushed violently to the ground without any warning or for any reason. Five innocent protesters were arrested with extreme force; one Australian, two British and two Israeli citizens, and taken away by border police and soldiers. All faced trumped up charges, including, ironically, of supposedly assaulting soldier.

In response to the closure of the three shops located in the old city, protesters were carrying banners asking: “Is the Old City becoming the new ghost town?”, referring to Shuhada Street that has been closed off for more than a decade. Some posters were also showing pictures of Shuhada Street in 1997 and 2007, showing how the street has become like a ghost town since all the shops were closed down. Although it’s Ramadan, about 60 people gathered for the demonstration.

The protesters went down to Bab al Balladyeh, and were faced by about 50 soldiers and border police. Police were also present. People were playing drums, singing slogans calling for a free Palestine and the opening of Shuhada Street, when the commander announced that it was an illegal demonstration. The border police who had lined up preventing people from moving on, started to push people back, and even though none of the protesters resisted, more and more force was used, causing many people to fall. The border police targeted one international activist, and while pushing everybody else away, they took him by the neck and pulled him violently down the street. Minutes later the same procedure was carried out on another activist, without any provocation from him. He fell to the ground and was dragged away by soldiers. Later in the demonstration two Israeli activists were targeted in the same way, though no physical contact with the soldiers whatsoever had occurred beforehand. Then another international activist, an elderly man, was grabbed and forcibly taken away.

The remaining group of protesters were then forced back along the street. People were asking the soldiers to stop pushing, which they didn’t respond to. This went on several times, and in the end the protesters walked back up the hill. The protest lasted for about an hour. Again the Israeli army proved that they don’t hesitate to use violence against peaceful protesters in Hebron.

None of the arrestees had so much as touched any of the soldiers – indeed they were in fact subjected to violence themselves – yet one British man was yesterday charged with assaulting a soldier.  Rhys Samuel stood trial in the ‘Peace Court’ in Jerusalem, with the soldiers’ false testimony the only evidence presented against him. He was not given a translator.  He was told he was banned from attending “illegal demonstrations”. Meanwhile, another British man was only released on the condition that he does not return to Hebron in the next 15 days. These court rulings, and the case of Swedish activist Marcus Regnander shows that the Israeli courts do not view the absence of evidence as an obstacle to imposing punitive conditions – but also that challenges within the legal system to unjust rulings can succeed as well. For fighting such increasingly frequent court cases designed to deter international peace activists, ISM has this week put out an appeal for funds to cover the hefty legal costs involved.

Meanwhile the violence used to arrest one of the Palestinians  was so great that he lost consciousness during the and yet soldiers dragged him unconscious for 20 meters before handcuffing him. The care he was provided with following the arrest was extremely inadequate – police refused to take him to the hospital despite multiple requests made to the paramedic for the pains in his head to be treated.

As well as the injuries incurred during the action, violence towards the Palestinians continued in Kiryat Arba Police Station when an officer named Avi lifted a Palestinian up by his neck, took him outside and began to beat him with no pretext given. This ill treatment of detainees continued with police refusing to grant access to the toilet, providing only frozen bread for food, personally insulting the prisoners, taunting them, and making racist comments. While the British and Israeli detainees were released, the Palestinians prisoners were moved to a Military base in Gush Etzion settlement. They are currently awaiting a court date.

Israeli army close down shops opposite Shuhada street in Hebron

11 August 2010 | ISM

Yesterday, August 10th, between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, in response to peaceful Palestinian resistance to the military occupation of Hebron – and ongoing settler violence – the Israeli army decided to collectively punish Palestinian shopkeepers in the Old City. They had been threatening for weeks to close certain shops because they are located by the yellow gate that closes off Shuhada street, where a weekly peaceful demo has started each Saturday for the past few months.

At about 3:00 the army announced that three of the five shops would be closed, and that they would weld the doors shut. Three families would lose their entire livelihoods.

Crowds of people then began gathering by the shops. There were members of ISM, CPT and EAPPI. There were also many Palestinians who came out to see what was happening. Some internationals and Palestinians stood in front of the shops.

Some people spoke to the soldiers who at that point were behind the gate. They asked them why they were punishing innocent people. The soldiers told them to leave. They did not listen to people telling them that they should disobey unjust orders. They just stared vacantly.

Some young Palestinian men tried to take off the gates before the soldiers got to them, so they would not be welded shut. One of the shopkeepers, an elderly man, tried to move his products out of the shop.

After about an hour, the gate to Shuhada Street swung open. Armed soldiers walked into the crowd and began ordering people to disperse. They charged towards the people in the first shop and arrested them. Palestinian men were thrown to the ground and were tackled by the soldiers. An older woman from CPT was roughly pushed. In all, six people were arrested, one international – who has since been released – and five Palestinians who are still being held.

The soldiers brutally chased out, dragged out or arrested everyone in the shops. They pushed crowds of people back and then proceeded to weld shut the doors. They declared the area a “closed military zone”. Many of the people in the crowd began remonstrating with the soldiers. Some of the soldiers told people to shut up. Others just stood there, not saying anything. Two officers were yelling at people and the soldiers pushed the crowds back.

After finishing welding the doors, the soldiers went back to their base. Before leaving, they threw a sound grenade. The loud noise shocked many people.

It was an action targeted at innocent civilians who were being punished for daring to peacefully raise their voices for their human rights.

Al-Walaja village resists construction of the Apartheid Wall

4 August 2010

This morning in Al-Walaja local Palestinian residents supported by Israeli and international solidarity activists nonviolently resisted the construction of the Apartheid Wall by blocking the work of a bulldozer.

Of the sixty protestors, fourteen people were arrested – six Palestinians and eight internationals.

Three were also injured as Israeli police forcefully and violently removed protestors from their blockade of the Caterpiller bulldozer, beating them with their rifle butts. One of the injured was a seven year old child. Numerous other people suffered chemical burns when the police used pepper spray on them.

The bulldozer was clearing ground to make way for construction of the Apartheid Wall which Israel continues to construct despite the ruling by the International Court of Justice ruling on July 9th 2004 that it was illegal and should be dismantled.

This evening those arrested were reportedly released and making their way home.