Haaretz Editorial Dec 09, 2015
What Does Jailing a Palestinian Politician Say About Israeli Democracy?
Khalida
Jarrar was sentenced to 15 months in prison this week for membership in
an illegal organization and incitement, but was her trial in a military
court just?
Khalida Jarrar in the courtroom of the Ofer detention facility, in May.AP
Khalida Jarrar is a political prisoner. The Ofer Military Court, which on Monday
sentenced the Palestinian parliamentarian to 15 months in prison for
membership in an illegal organization and incitement, is a political
court that punished her for her political activity, and for that alone.
Thus Israel, which pretends to be a democracy, has political prisoners,
political arrests and political prison sentences, at least in the
occupied territories.
Jarrar’s
trial once again proved the intolerable contradiction between the rule
of law and the principles of justice, on one hand, and the military
justice system on the other. The latter has no relationship to the
former.
Jarrar
was arrested at her home in Al-Bireh in April. The defense
establishment claimed at the time that the reason for the arrest was her
violation of a military order that allowed her to live only in the
Jericho area, far from her home. No other crime was mentioned. Later,
she was indicted on 12 different counts, some of them ridiculous and
even outrageous, like attending a book fair and paying condolence
visits. In the end, she was convicted on two counts in a plea bargain.
One
military court judge ordered her freed long ago; another ordered her
kept in prison until the end of her trial; and the military prosecutor
threatened her – and essentially the court as well – by saying that if
she were released, she’d be thrown in jail without trial, in other words
placed in administrative detention. This is not how the legal system of
a properly run state conducts itself.
Even
the fact that Jarrar is a legislator, a member of parliament, an
elected representative of her people – a post that ought to grant her
immunity from political charges – didn’t give her a moment’s protection.
Israel treated her brutally, just as it treats every Palestinian it
deems suspect.
First
it tried to keep her away from her hometown with a draconian military
order. Then it tried to put her in administration detention, which is no
less arbitrary. Finally, and only after public and international
pressure for her release had intensified, members of the military
justice system were forced to fabricate an indictment against her – most
of which, as noted, collapsed. Essentially, this was a Band-Aid, based
at least in part on dubious evidence, including vague hearsay evidence
and testimony obtained under pressure.
The
fact that Jarrar was thrown into prison because of her political
activity on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
is first and foremost an indictment of the State of Israel, which puts
politicians on trial because of their legitimate opposition to the
occupation and even sentences them to jail. Jarrar and her attorneys
decided to accept the plea bargain in order to shorten her trial, and
thereby the length of her detention until the end of proceedings. But
the black flag that flies over the shameful imprisonment of a
Palestinian member of parliament will continue to fly over the State of
Israel, tarnishing her jailers and, above all, those who are responsible
for them.
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