Palestinian human rights activist Wa’el Al-Faqeeh has been sentenced to one year in Israeli military prison, on the charge of aiding an illegal organization. Al-Faqeeh was arrested by the Israeli military on 9 December 2009, thus due to be released in December of this year.
The sentence was handed down in Salem military prrison, in which Al-Faqeeh was found guilty by a military judge of aiding an illegal organization. The charge has served as a useful and thinly veiled pretext in the arrest of hundreds of Palestinian activists. Al-Faqeeh was also ordered to pay a fine of 2000 shekels.
Al-Faqeeh will serve his sentence in Megiddo prison in northern Israel. The act of imprisoning inmates from an occupied territory inside the occupying country is illegal under international law. Megiddo prison is notorious for its harsh treatment of inmates, where prisoners sleep in tents in crowded pens, providing little shelter from the extremities of weather in winter and summer.
Al-Faqeeh was arrested during an Israeli military night raid operation in Nablus on 9 December 2009. He and 8 others, including 3 other prominent grassroots activists were arrested during the operation, including Myasser Itiani, Nasser Itiani and Mussa Salama. Nasser Itiani is now serving his second term of administrative detention and is due to be released in August. Salama, well-known in the Nablus region for his work with the Labour Committee of Medical Relief Workers has been sentenced to one year on identical charges to Al-Faqeeh and is due to be released in December.
The arrests marked a significant surge in Israel’s crackdown on the popular struggle, evidenced by the subsequent arrests of Bil’in popular committee leader Abdullah Abu-Rahmah, Stop the Wall campaign leader Jamal Juma’ and Ibrahim Amirah and several other members of the Ni’lin popular committee.
Palestinian activist Wa’el Al-Faqeeh faced his third hearing in Salim military court on 11 March. His detention period was extended until 24 April when the next hearing will take place. Al-Faqeeh remains imprisoned without charge since his arrest from his Nablus home on 9 December 2009. It is expected that Al-Faqeeh will be charged with aiding an illegal organization, a common pretext employed by the Israeli military to imprison politically active Palestinians, and faces a minimum of 12 months behind bars.
Al-Faqeeh, imprisoned for over three months now, sent a message to his loved ones from Jelemeh prison as he began the new year imprisoned by Israel’s occupation forces: “I am the captive Wael Al-Faqeeh, wishing the free world a Happy New Year full of peace, security and love. I hope for a year of enlightment in all human relations, and a renewed call for peace agreements, supported by the free people of the world. It is my hope that we can design and build a society free from all forms of discrimination and persecution.”
Al-Faqeeh’s wife Myassar has been denied permission to visit her husband in Megiddo prison where he has been held for the last 2 months. She has been afforded only two brief glimpses of Al-Faqeeh since the arrest, at hearings at Salim military court which have lasted an average of 3 minutes. Permission was granted to his two eldest daughters however, who will make the journey to Megiddo in northern Israel next week.
Reports that Al-Faqeeh’s health has deteriorated whilst in prison have fueled his family and friends’ concern for the human rights activist. Family members and fellow solidarity activists have lodged requests to the Red Cross and Physicians For Human Rights to visit Al-Faqeeh and ensure that his health is sufficiently attended to.
Al-Faqeeh, 45 years old, was kidnapped in a night raid on his family’s home in Nablus on 9 December 2009, when a force of over 200 Israeli soldiers entered the city in an operation to arrest prominent grassroots activists in the region. Al-Faqeeh is known throughout the community for his tireless support of the Palestinian non-violent struggle and organization of countless community-outreach projects, demonstrations and cultural/educational programs for Nablus’ youth. The arrests signaled an escalation in Israel’s attempts to crack down on the resurgence of Palestine’s popular resistance against the illegal occupation, evidenced by the subsequent arrests of community leaders Abdullah Abu-Rahmah and Mohammad Khatib of Bil’in, Ibrahim Amirah and Hassan Mousa of Ni’lin and Jamal Juma’, head of the Stop The Wall campaign, from Jerusalem.
Take action against Israel’s detention of Wa’el Al-Faqeeh and all political prisoners here.
Israel is prohibiting Palestinian lawyers and the relatives of Palestinian detainees from reaching a military tribunal via the Beitunia checkpoint west of Ramallah.
The prohibition, which has been in effect for the past three days, means that Israeli police are requiring Palestinians to use the Qalandiyah crossing 20 kilometers away, where they must produce an entry permit to Israel – which can take weeks to obtain – if they want to enter an Israeli military tribunal that is on West Bank land. The court lies 300 meters south of the Beitunia roadblock, and was built on land that is part of Beitunia.
The restriction contravenes a recent High Court of Justice decision opening Route 443 to Palestinian traffic.
The lawyers have declared a strike to protest the prohibition, and are not appearing in military court.
Military Judge Arieh Durani yesterday criticized the police for keeping the lawyers from adequately representing their clients.
“The court takes a very dim view of the authorities thwarting representation of detainees by not permitting their attorneys to cross at the checkpoint,” he said. He also imposed a NIS 1,000 fine on any lawyer who refrained from representing a client who is a minor.
Palestinians see the new rules as infringing on their rights as well as forcing them into de facto recognition of a border that is unilaterally determined by Israel. Since 1995, Israel has sought to make Qalandiyah the northern entry point of the so-called safe passage between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. It is far from the Green Line and the Latrun area, where the Palestinians wanted the entry point to be. The entire area south of Beitunia has gradually become off-limits to Palestinians since 2000.
Although the Israel Defense Forces has general responsibility for the area, the Jerusalem police and the Border Police are in charge of the checkpoint. Police first closed the checkpoint three weeks ago, telling the lawyers and relatives they had to enter through the Qalandiyah checkpoint.
But even those who go to Qalandiyah still need an entry permit to Israel, with no assurance that it will be granted. Moreover, crossing at Qalandiyah involves a long wait and additional travel expenses.
The attorneys went on strike when the restrictions were first imposed, and sent a letter of protest to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz. A few days later, the checkpoint was reopened for those heading to the military court. However, at the beginning of the week the order was imposed again.
In 2001 the IDF completely blocked the road that links Beitunia with Ramallah and the surrounding villages. When the military court was moved in 2004 from Ramallah to the Ofer facility, the checkpoint was opened so that lawyers and relatives of the accused could get to the court.
No Israeli officials took responsibility for the checkpoint restrictions.
The IDF spokesman’s office told Haaretz to seek a response from the Israel Police. The Israel Police spokesman told Haaretz that the Jerusalem police and the Border Police are responsible for the passage of merchandise, not people, and that a response should be obtained from the Defense Ministry.
Al-Faqeeh teaching youth about the BDS campaign at the Tanweer Centre, Nablus
Political prisoner Wa’el Al-Faqeeh has been detained without charge by Israeli authorities for over a month, and is now facing trial in Salim military court on the 19th of January. The abduction of Al-Faqeeh from his home, along with 4 other activists in the Nablus region, marked the beginning of the recent surge in Israel’s targeting of leaders of Palestinian popular resistance.
On the night of December 9th 2009 over 200 Israeli soldiers entered the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Their mission: to round up a list of local grassroots activists, whose promotion of popular struggle Israel had no answer for. Amongst those taken was 45 year old Wa’el Al-Faqeeh, when 50 soldiers stormed his home, pointing their weapons at him and his family as though the man they had come to arrest embodied a formidable threat. But those who know Al Faqeeh know that he worked tirelessly – and on a largely voluntary basis – in defense of human rights and the promotion of the strategies and philosophy of Palestinian non-violent resistance.
Al-Faqeeh’s membership to the Tanweer Palestinian Cultural Enlightenment Forum board of directors was a vehicle for the initiation of the BDS (Boycott, Sanctions, Divestment) campaign at An-Najah University as well as countless cultural, social and educational projects for Nablus youth, championing the belief of freedom through the fulfilment of learning and expression. His organisation of Iraq Burin’s weekly demonstrations through the months of July to September played an instrumental role in the return of 30 dunums of land to the village annexed by neighbouring settlements and Israeli military forces. Al Faqeeh enthusiastically supported the cause of Palestinian farmers working under constant threat from settler and military violence, organising the annual olive harvest in the Nablus region and working year-round to defend agricultural communities’ connection to their land and economic livelihood.
His grassroots outreach across the political spectrum inspired all those he met and worked with, but Al-Faqeeh has suffered greatly for it. On more than one occasion he was threatened by Israeli officials for his involvement in popular struggle, severely limiting his movements for fear of arrest. This fear was realised on the 9th of December, when he was arrested and imprisoned by the Israeli military, joining 8,000 other Palestinian political prisoners like him.
Upon his arrest Al-Faqeeh was taken to Huwara Detention Centre and transferred the following day to Jelemeh Prison in Haifa ,where he is now held. This is illegal under the IV Geneva Convention, which outlaws the transfer of prisoners from occupied territory to the state of the occupying force. He has been held for over a month under interrogation without charge, on the basis of Israeli officials’ alleged possession of secret evidence against him. His court date was finally announced on January 12, summoning him to appear before Salim military court in the northern West Bank on January 19.
4 other grassroots activists from seized in raids on their homes in Nablus the same night, including Mayasar Itiany and her brother Abdul-Nasser Itiany, both active in prisoners rights organisations, and Mussa Salama who is involved in the Labour Committee of Medical Relief for Workers. Abdul-Nasser Itiany has since been placed under administrative detention, a fate often reserved for Palestinian activists for whom investigators cannot gather sufficient evidence to make a specific charge.
Abdullah Abu Ramah, head of Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall & Settlements, was seized by Israeli forces the night after the arrest of Al-Faqeeh. The international exposure and support gained as a result of Bil’in’s peaceful demonstrations against the illegal Apartheid Wall have culminated in a violent backlash on the supporters of the village’s popular struggle and the arrest of several of its leaders. Several other high profile Palestinian activists have been targeted in recent months, including the arrest and detainment of Jamal Juma’, head of Stop The Wall campaign and the administrative detention of Mohammad Othman, a youth co-ordinator for Stop The Wall. Othman’s case was similar to Al-Faqeeh’s in the prelude to his trial, his interrogation period spanning a significant length (2 months) and being held on the basis of secret evidence, unaccessible to Othman or hiw lawyers. Key players in the demonstrations and popular struggle in the villages of Ni’lin and Al-Masara have been subject to night raids, arrest and detainment in recent months also.
Almost all prisoners in Israel’s jails face some form of torture or mistreament during their arrest and detention. Their conditions of detention are extremely poor, and in some cases, life-threatening. Al-Faqeeh urgently requires medical attention, his lawyer reporting that his physical condition has worsened considerably during his detention as he suffers from high blood pressure and painful mouth ulcers. Prisoners report that provision of medical treatment is often used as another form of coercion against them by the prison authorities. When administered treatment is woefully inadequate, with Acamol (the Israeli version of aspirin) generally being the only form of medicine issued to detainees.
Arbitrary detention by Israel of human rights defenders is immoral, illegal and must be stopped. Messengers of peace such as Al-Faqeeh pose no threat to Israel: his ability to mobilize and inspire oppressed Palestinians only endangers the Israeli occupation by exposing the regime’s brutal and oppressive nature.
Abdallah Abu Rahmah, coordinator of the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall, was remanded until the end of legal proceedings today in an Israeli military court. Abu Rahmah is charged with incitement, stone-throwing and a ridiculous arms possession charge for collecting and displaying used tear gas canisters shot at demonstrators in Bil’in by the army.
A judge in the Ofer military court has ordered the remand of Abdallah Abu Rahmah until the end of legal procedures against him. Abu Rahmah, a high school teacher and the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Bil’in is charged with incitement, stone throwing and possession of illegal arm. The latter charge was pressed against Abu Rahmah for collecting and displaying used tear gas canisters shot at demonstrators in Bil’in by the army.
On receiving the indictment Adv. Gaby Lasky, Abu Rahmah’s lawyer said that “The army shoots at unarmed demonstrators, and when they try to show the violence used against them to the world by collecting and displaying the remnant tear-gas canisters – they are persecuted and prosecuted. What’s next? Charging protesters money for the bullets shot at them?”
On December 10, International Day of Human Rights, exactly one year after receiving Carl Von Ossietzky Medal from the International League for Human Rights, Abu Rahmah was arrested during an Israeli military night-time raid. He was detained for his involvement in organizing unarmed protests against the Wall in the village of Bil’in.
As part of a recent wave of repression against the Palestinian popular protest movement, Israel has charged numerous grassroots organizers with both stone throwing and incitement. In at least one case, that of Mohammed Khatib from Bil’in, the court found evidence presented on a stone-throwing charge to be falsified.
The charge of incitement, defined in military law as “an attempt, whether verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order”, is a cynic attempt to equate grassroots organizing with a hefty charge, and is part of the army’s strategy to use legal measures as a means of quashing the popular movement.
In recent months five members of the Bil’in Popular Committee have been arrested in suspicion of incitement, including Adeeb Abu Rahmah who is now in detention for more than five months. Jamal Juma and Mohammed Othman of the Stop the Wall NGO have also been arrested, presumably for being involved in anti-Wall and BDS work. They are both held with no charges and on secret evidence.
