Israel appeals release of peaceful Palestinian activist

PALESTINIAN non-violent activist Abdullah Abu Rahmah, who is due to be freed today after completing a prison sentence, is likely to remain on remand following an appeal against his release by Israel’s military prosecution.

Jonathan Pollak, spokesman for the Popular Committee Against the Wall, said that although he should be released now it is expected the “court will co-operate with the politically motivated prosecution and extend his sentence to 18 months”.

Abu Rahmah (39), co-ordinator of the committee in the West Bank village of Bil’in, was arrested in December last year.

After an eight-month trial, he was convicted on charges of “in- citement” and organising illegal demonstrations. He was given a year’s detention with time served taken off his sentence.

He was initially accused of stone-throwing and possession of weapons but the court threw out these charges. The Israeli army could not prove he had thrown stones, while items he had in his possession were empty casings of munitions and gas canisters fired by Israeli troops during protests.

Ahead of his conviction, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was “deeply concerned” that his imprisonment was “in- tended to prevent him and other Palestinians from expressing their legitimate right to protest . . . in a non-violent manner.”

Bil’in began weekly protests in 2005 against Israel’s 700km long wall and fence complex, which has cut off the 1,800 inhabitants of the village from half their land.

Bil’iners, along with Israeli and international supporters gather at the village mosque every Friday after prayers and march downhill to the wall, where they are confronted by Israeli soldiers.

There is a brief standoff before troops fire plastic-coated steel balls, live bullets, percussion grenades and tear gas and chase protesters up the hill. Palestinian youths respond with stones. One Palestinian has been killed, many have been wounded, including Nobel laureate Mairéad Maguire, and scores have been detained. Other West Bank villages have adopted Bil’in-style protests, which have been endorsed by the Palestinian Authority.

In 2002, Israel began building the barrier that reaches deep into the West Bank and surrounds Jerusalem. In 2004, the Israeli supreme court held that the government had the right to build the wall but ordered its routing be changed if it caused Palestinians hardship.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the wall was a violation of international law, the view adopted by the EU. Meanwhile, the Israeli cabinet yesterday voted in favour of a unilateral withdrawal from the northern half of Ghajar, a town straddling the Lebanese-Israeli border. Ghajar’s southern sector will remain under Israeli control.