<html>
<body>
<font size=4><b>Israel convicts grassroots activist to two years'
imprisonment <br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>Amy Darwish, <i>The Electronic Intifada,</i> 1
July 2010 <br><br>
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11365.shtml" eudora="autourl">
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11365.shtml</a><br><br>
On 30 June grassroots activist Adeeb Abu Rahmah was sentenced by Israel
to two years imprisonment at a military court hearing at the Ofer
Military Complex in the occupied West Bank. Abu Rahmah already spent 11
months behind bars and his arrest and detention is part of Israel's
repressive efforts to criminalize the grassroots popular resistance to
the Israeli occupation.<br><br>
Adeeb Abu Rahmah is known for his vibrant presence at the occupied West
Bank village of Bilin's weekly demonstrations against Israel's wall and
for his commitment to popular nonviolent resistance. A founding member of
the Bilin Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, Abu Rahmah
was arrested at a nonviolent demonstration on 10 July 2009 and later
indicted by the military prosecution on grounds of
"incitement," "activity against public order," and
"being present in a closed military zone." <br><br>
Abu Rahmah has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to nonviolent
resistance. He has also denied all charges, aside from acknowledging his
participation in the weekly demonstrations. Although his release was
initially ordered on 16 July 2009, the prosecution later appealed the
decision and Abu Rahmah was remanded into custody for the duration of his
legal proceedings.<br><br>
Many contend that Israel's investigation of Abu Rahmeh was flawed from
the very beginning, and the Israeli military court system is notorious
for its lack of respect for international standards of fair trial and
detention. A 5 March 2010 Human Rights Watch report particularly
highlighted many due process concerns where investigations regarding
Palestinian anti-wall demonstrators are concerned, citing charges based
on "questionable evidence and allegedly coerced
confessions."<br><br>
According to Iyad Burnat, Head of the Bilin Popular Committee, the
Israeli military in Abu Rahmah's case "relied on the forced
confessions of four Bilin youth -- one 14, one 15 and two 16 years of age
-- to convict Adeeb for having told them to throw stones."<br><br>
Burnat added: "This problem is not confined to Bilin and has also
emerged in other villages." <br><br>
Attorney Gaby Lasky, who is representing Abu Rahmah, noted that the
testimony from the minors in question was provided under considerable
duress. "They were arrested at 3:30am, they were handcuffed and
blindfolded," she said. "They were then interrogated at 2pm the
next day, without having eaten or having had a chance to use the
washroom."<br><br>
Israeli military authorities claim that they questioned the youths to
determine who threw the stones, and the youths identified Abu Rahmah as
having done so.<br><br>
"Yet, several times, the demonstrators had thrown leaflets and other
innocuous objects at the soldiers. We are arguing that the police
investigation was so lacking that they didn't even ask the youth what
Adeeb had specifically said," Lasky explained. <br><br>
Lasky also noted that the youth were questioned by an interrogator who
was not a specialist in questioning children, and the interrogation was
carried out without the presence of a lawyer or the children's parents.
Human Rights Watch states that such practices directly contravene
provisions under Israeli Military Orders that allow detainees to contact
lawyers and grant child detainees the right to have a parent present
during their interrogations.<br><br>
The credibility of the investigation was also challenged when Lasky
learned that a special army unit was filming the demonstrations and that
the footage was being submitted as evidence against Abu Rahmah. When
Lasky subsequently attempted to get ahold of the footage, however, she
was told that all the cassettes had been erased. <br><br>
"Under different circumstances, this might have been enough to
acquit him," Lasky said. "There have been many problems with
the investigation and we had hoped that the court would take this into
consideration."<br><br>
Ultimately, Abu Rahmah's trial may portend broader implications where the
popular resistance is concerned. "Adeeb's indictment and conviction
raise much bigger questions," Lasky explained. "The trial is
really against the demonstrations as a whole." Indeed, Abu Rahmah's
indictment may signal an escalation in the use of legal strategies as a
means of quelling the popular resistance.<br><br>
For the past five years, the people of Bilin have waged an ongoing
struggle against the construction of Israel's wall, which has annexed
large portions of their agricultural lands and threatens the economy of
the village. Since the first bulldozers began to uproot olive trees in
February 2005, the villagers have staged weekly demonstrations every
Friday. Joining villages such as Budrus, Jayyus, Nilin and al-Masara,
their creative tactics have captured the imaginations of many people
around the world and inspired other Palestinian communities across the
West Bank to take up the struggle.<br><br>
Villagers in Bilin have also launched a precedent-setting legal challenge
alongside its popular campaign. On 22 June 2009, court proceedings
unfolded in the Quebec Superior Court, where the village filed their
lawsuit against Green Mount and Green Park International, two
Quebec-based companies involved in the construction of condos and the
expansion of settlements at the village's expense. Citing the Fourth
Article of the Geneva Convention and the Canadian Law on Crimes Against
Humanity and War Crimes, the complaint accuses both companies of
complicity in war crimes.<br><br>
Coinciding with the legal challenge, three members of the Bilin Popular
Committee Against the Wall and Settlements also visited 11 Canadian
cities for a nation-wide speaking tour. <br><br>
While the case was later rejected by the Quebec Superior Court in the
fall of 2009, the village later appealed the decision at the Quebec Court
of Appeals. During hearings that unfolded earlier this month, judges
fielded arguments from the village's legal team regarding the
"justiceability" of the village's claim. Lawyers for the
village maintain that the Fourth Geneva Convention is not incorporated
into Israeli law, thereby precluding the possibility that the case can be
heard in the Israeli high court. At present, the Canadian court has taken
the case under advisement and a decision is anticipated in the months to
come.<br><br>
While Bilin's three-pronged strategy of direct action, court cases and
international solidarity have kept it in the headlines, the Israeli
military continues to repress it. Indeed, Abu Rahmah's conviction
represents the most recent development in a broader campaign to quell the
popular struggle. <br><br>
In a recent report, prisoner rights group Addameer and the Stop the Wall
campaign have noted that violence has been systematically used by Israeli
forces to suppress the popular resistance. It is estimated that more than
1,566 Palestinians have been injured and 16 have been killed between 2005
and 2009. In Bilin alone, approximately 1,300 protestors have been
wounded during weekly demonstrations over the past five years. Israel's
directed policy of misusing disbursement tactics also claimed the life of
Bilin's Bassem Abu Rahmah, who was killed on 17 April 2009, when he was
shot in the chest with a tear gas canister.<br><br>
The Israeli military has also instituted a policy of targeted arrests and
detention. According to Sahar Francis, director of Addameer, "this
policy is very much part of a broader campaign of repression against any
form of activism." The use of detentions and arrests has also
escalated considerably in recent years. "Within the past one or two
years, it has increased considerably as momentum in the campaign against
the wall builds."<br><br>
Since 2002, Addameer and Stop the Wall have documented the arrests of 176
Palestinian grassroots activists in five villages, namely Bilin, Nilin,
al-Masara, Jayyus and Budrus. According to Bilin's internal village
statistics, 85 residents have been arrested since June 2009, many during
the Israeli military's frequent night raids into the village The recent
wave of political arrests has targeted key community activists; five of
those arrested are active with the Bilin Popular Committee Against the
Wall and Settlements, and all were charged with "incitement."
<br><br>
Defined as "any act of attempting, whether verbally or otherwise, to
influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public
peace or public order" under Article 7(a) of Military Order 101, the
use of incitement as a blanket charge is controversial.<br><br>
Attorney Lasky explained that "Until recently, people had not been
charged with this particular offense for a very long time and it is now
being interpreted very broadly." In a recent press release, Amnesty
International also cautioned that "the broad scope of Israeli
military orders mean that Abu Rahmah could be imprisoned solely for
legitimately exercising his right to freedom of expression in opposing
Israeli policies in the West Bank."<br><br>
From Sahar Francis' perspective, the use of vague language and nebulous
parameters is no coincidence. "The first thing we should remember is
that all forms of activism are deemed illegal," she explained.
"Participating in demonstrations, holding forums -- all these things
are considered to be incitement. You find very vague language and
definitions so broad that any action can fit inside. This was written
into the Military Orders in 1967 to permit them to adapt to evolving
forms of resistance."<br><br>
Abu Rahmah's case could also have far-reaching implications for other
anti-wall activists currently awaiting trial. As Amnesty International
explained, he could be "the first activist against the fence/wall to
be brought to a full evidential trial in a case of this kind." Abu
Rahmah's conviction could potentially set troubling new precedents for
further criminalizing the popular resistance. <br><br>
Abu Rahmah's sentence has also come as a tremendous shock and
disappointment to his family, and his ongoing imprisonment continues to
weigh heavily upon them. Left without a financial provider, the family of
ten has struggled to make ends meet for the past 11 months. <br><br>
"I am a medical student at Abu Dis University, while my sister is
also studying management at al-Quds Open University," daughter Rajaa
Abu Rahmah explained. "We also have to cover the costs of books and
tuition, in addition to meeting basic needs. It has been really hard to
get by."<br><br>
In addition to financial pressures, Abu Rahmah's absence has also exacted
a heavy emotional toll on the family. "This is the first time my
father has been away from us, even for a short period of time,"
stated Rajaa. "We feel angry all the time, for no reason. It has
been a sad, lonely time for us all."<br><br>
Despite the challenges faced during his absence, the Abu Rahmah family
remains steadfast. "We are not alone," Rajaa said. "Many
villages also have prisoners and people who have suffered injuries. It
has been difficult, but we have to come out of this
stronger."<br><br>
As the Abu Rahmah family has been resilient, so too has the popular
struggle. The weekly demonstrations have continued unabated and
resistance remains ongoing, even in the face of intense repression and
legal persecution.<br><br>
"Certain people may be more cautious in their participation,"
Francis explained. "Still, the resistance is continuing and even
expanding to new villages, such as Nabi Saleh. They are not succeeding in
breaking the will of the people."<br><br>
Iyad Burnat said that the latest round of repression leaves the movement
even more determined to sustain the popular struggle. "Israel will
not break us on their anvil -- they will only make us stronger with their
repression and hammer blows." <br><br>
Burnat added, "After five years of struggle in the village, one
murder and many disabling injuries we still strive with the words of
Terence McSwiney -- the Irish nationalist who fought the British
occupation of Ireland and died on hunger strike in protest -- in mind:
'it is not those who can inflict the most, but those that can endure the
most who will prevail.'"<br><br>
<i>Amy Darwish is a writer and community organizer active in the Tadamon!
network in Montreal.</i> <br><br>
<br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>