{"id":26120,"date":"2013-02-28T09:56:30","date_gmt":"2013-02-28T05:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/?p=26120"},"modified":"2013-03-02T12:14:15","modified_gmt":"2013-03-02T08:14:15","slug":"death-in-an-israeli-prison-its-all-too-routine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/showcase\/death-in-an-israeli-prison-its-all-too-routine\/","title":{"rendered":"Death In an Israeli Prison: It’s All Too Routine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"arafat\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Barely a month has passed since news of\u00a0Prisoner X’s death\u00a0<\/a>in an Israeli prison, another prisoner died while in Israeli custody.\u00a0Arafat Jaradat<\/a>, a young Palestinian father of two toddlers died after a week in an Israeli jail. He was charged, tortured and confessed to throwing stones at IDF soldiers during a demonstration to protest Israel’s recent\u00a0assault on Gaza<\/a>. According to Jaradat’s lawyer, during Jaradat’s military court hearing Israel’ presiding judge was informed that\u00a0Jaradat was tortured<\/a>,\u00a0but that did not protect Jaradat or the 220 Palestinians before him who also died in Israeli custody. Which is not surprising since Israel openly discloses that all Israeli prisons and holding centers dedicated to Palestinian prisoners are staffed with\u00a0Shin Bet interrogators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now we know\u00a0Prisoner X<\/a>\u00a0and Jaradat shared a similar fate, both were interrogated and mysteriously died while in Israeli custody. Prisoner X, was later identified as\u00a0Ben Zygier\u00a0<\/a>who vanished without a trace for two years until an Australian TV documentary forced the Israeli government to reluctantly admit of his secrete detention and death. While it not clear yet whether\u00a0Zygier<\/a>\u00a0died on the hands of his torturers or committed suicide, most Israelis are calling for a\u00a0full investigation<\/a>\u00a0to determine the cause of his death. Unfortunately that is not the case for Jaradat, Israel does not find it necessary to conduct an independent investigation.<\/p>\n

The use of detention to curb the tide of national movements or political opposition is not unusual for governments who prefer to detain objectors and preserve the status quo rather than address the real causes of dissent. Here in the US, we shamelessly used it against African Americans who justly and non-violently called for an end to institutional segregation during the civil rights movement. Throughout the civil rights movements many black civil rights protesters and leaders were arrested and imprisoned including\u00a0Dr. Martin Luther King<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Not withstanding, Israel’s mass use of imprisonment to curtail Palestinian demands to end their occupation is unique in its breadth, scale and longevity. Ten years after Israel’s 1967 war and occupation\u00a0650,000 Palestinians were detained in Israeli prisons.\u00a0 Meaning within a decade of the Israeli occupation at least one in every four Palestinian man, woman and child living in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza- were detained by the IDF and imprisoned in Israeli military prisons.\u00a0Just for a moment soak these numbers and reflect on the magnitude of Israel’s use of mass detention. If we in the US used the same measures during the civil rights movement, state and federal agencies during that time would have had to detain\u00a01.5 million\u00a0<\/a>African Americans. Would we as a country have stomached such drastic measures? Probably some Americans would justify it, but more likely most would have abhorred the use of indiscriminate wholesale detention.<\/p>\n

Israel’s Palestinian detention policy and scheme has been in effect for more than 46 years. \u00a0Israel has maintained the same operating principles and procedures with the expectations that Palestinians will comply, which is counter intuitive to every human instinct and logic. Israel expects Palestinians to live with the terms of their treatment, repetitiveness and duration of their detention whether innocent or not, fairly or unfairly and without objection. Accordingly, Palestinians who protest their detention pay a heavy price- and dare they strike.\u00a0Samer Issawi’s arrest and hunger strike<\/a>\u00a0illustrates Israel’s expectations and the utility of its detention policies. Issawi (translated his name means follower of Jesus) is from East Jerusalem. He\u00a0was recently released form an Israeli military prison, and re- arrested at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank (approximately two miles from his home). Israel charged Issawi with breaking the terms of his release and sent him back to prison in Israel. For two hundred days Issawi non-violently protested his re- arrest and detention by refusing to eat.\u00a0Feeble and sick he was wheeled\u00a0<\/a>to his court hearing, but his health condition did not spare him. Israel’s presiding military judge informed him that based on\u00a0new secrete<\/a>\u00a0evidence he may face additional charges and an extended prison term (20-26 years). Since secrete evidence cannot be disclosed; Issawi will be charged and held for at least 20 years without being told why or given a reason.<\/p>\n

In 1948, soon after the world witnessed wholesale abuse and atrocities committed and contrived by\u00a0Germany during World War II<\/a>,\u00a0The Universal Declaration of Human Rights\u00a0<\/a>was drafted and ratified. It established common norms and universal rights endowed to every\u00a0human being<\/a>\u00a0as ‘natural rights’- not to be given or denied, awarded or rescinded by states. These rights were articulated in the\u00a0Charter of the United Nations<\/a>\u00a0as ‘fundamental rights’, which are binding on all member states. This understanding is clearly stated in\u00a0Israel’s Declaration of Independence\u00a0<\/a>, which\u00a0promise: Israel “will dedicate itself to the principles of the\u00a0Charter of the United Nations.” But so far Israel has refused to meet its legal obligations towards the Palestinians, although it is party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT<\/a>);\u00a0the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR<\/a>),\u00a0and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)<\/a>.\u00a0Palestinians have learned that the many international covenants\u00a0Israel has signed<\/a>\u00a0and ratified will not protect them; they cannot rely on Israel’s judicial system for fair treatment; or depend on the international community to force Israel to conform to international standards.<\/p>\n

While many Israeli human rights organizations speak out\u00a0against their government’s abusive\u00a0<\/a>detention practices of Palestinians, most Israelis do not see any objection to the over zealous use of mass arrests of young and old Palestinians by their IDF soldiers. Even fewer question\u00a0Israel’s dual judicial system<\/a>\u00a0and laws, or Israel’s one of a kind parallel judicial military system; a civil system for Israelis; a military system specifically designed for the Palestinians Israel occupies. Correspondingly Israel operates two judicial systems and two separate laws and procedures analogously depending on the national aspirations and faith of the detainees.<\/p>\n

Israel’s civil system protects its citizens regardless of the location or offense Israelis commit; this includes Israel’s well-armed\u00a0illegal settlers\u00a0<\/a>who forcefully take Palestinian owned lands and profit from Palestinian resources. Israel’s illegal settlers are responsible for a host of violations including\u00a0violently attacking<\/a>, terrorizing and\u00a0harassing<\/a>\u00a0Palestinian\u00a0farmers<\/a>;\u00a0uprooting their olive trees<\/a>;\u00a0obstructing their passage to their fields;\u00a0defacing their houses of worship<\/a>\u00a0and destroying their properties. Israel has charged a handful few of its settlers with offenses committed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, but when they are charged, they are\u00a0prosecuted in regular civilian courts<\/a>\u00a0within Israel.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Palestinian, who are arrested, regardless of age or charge, are prosecuted in Israel’s military courts and are transferred and held in military prisons in Israel. That applies to\u00a0young children<\/a>,\u00a0non- violent protesters<\/a>, teachers, health workers, as well as Palestinian\u00a0legislative council members<\/a>, mayors and political leaders. Israel is well aware that their transfer and detention is in violation of the\u00a0Geneva Convention<\/a>, which clearly states “the\u00a0deportation or transfer\u00a0<\/a>of all or parts of the population of the occupied territory within or outside this territory, in violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Convention.”\u00a0<\/i>Furthermore, Palestinian government officials and leaders are afforded protections by international law and the 1993 Oslo Accords, which Israel also ignores.<\/p>\n

Most distressing is the fate of\u00a0young Palestinian children\u00a0<\/a>the IDF arrests. These minors are transported to Israeli prisons away from their family who must file official requests to visit their children, and secure IDF permission to navigate Israel’s endless checkpoints,\u00a0which may or may not be approved<\/a>. In 2010 members of the British parliament traveled to Israel to investigate a list of 100-69 minors in Israeli detention centers, they were horrified and stunned after a visit to one of Israel’s juvenile detention court hearing. \u00a0According to\u00a0Haaretz<\/a>\u00a0while the visiting MPs were sitting in one of the halls of the court they heard” a jangle of chains outside the door of the courtroom, Army officers led child detainees into the military courtroom. The children’s legs were shackled, they were handcuffed and they were all kitted out in brown jumpsuits.\u00a0One had to wonder if the soldiers felt threatened by 13- and 14-year-old boys<\/a>.” \u00a0They concluded in dismay “The children were better off\u00a0pleading guilty regardless\u00a0<\/a>of whether they had done something, because if they were detained until the end of proceedings, this could be three times longer than their punishment.” Never mind that these young Palestinian minors will be marked with a permanent record, or that the IDF will use their detention record to justify interrogating them during a village raid or while crossing Israel’s countless of check points. These young Palestinians become captive suspects to be held at the whim of IDF soldiers.<\/p>\n

No country has used detention on such a magnitude and for so long to break the spirit of a people like our friend and ally Israel.\u00a0Israel’s casual and frequent use of\u00a0administrative detention<\/a>\u00a0is it’s most obscene practice. Although international law allows it’s application in extreme situations; Israel uses administrative detention routinely to imprison Palestinians\u00a0without charge<\/a>; deny Palestinians their basic right to be informed of what crimes they are suspected of committing; or according to Israel’s hyper vigilance standards may be willing (or imagining) to commit; and detain and hold Palestinians without the right to be put to trial. Since 1967 Israel is\u00a0responsible for detaining 20%\u00a0<\/a>of the total Palestinian population. So on average one in five Palestinians have been detained by Israel and that does not include the number of re-arrests. While most Palestinians Israel detains are held without charge, but thereafter they suffer the consequences. Once Palestinians are detained, listed and marked they are unable to travel abroad, seek a scholarship, work or freely move in their own community.<\/p>\n

In a span of few weeks we have learned of two deaths in Israel’s prisons- one is a Palestinian and another is an Israeli. Jaradat’s death has orphaned two young children and widowed his young pregnant wife. So has the death of Prisoner X, whose young family is silently grieving the loss of their father. And while Israel’s dual judicial system may eventually lead to some answers to the unfortunate death of Prisoner X, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have perished at the hands of their interrogators leaving behind families and friends who will continue to carry the burdens and scars of a the senseless Israeli occupation that\u00a0our tax dollars\u00a0<\/a>have continued to sustain, despite our own interest in ending it.<\/p>\n

Will the detention and death of Jaradat and Prisoner X give us the courage to confront the cruelty of Israel’s detention practices? Regrettably neither death nor Israel’s illegal mass detention of Palestinians will be a major concern for our government or American supporters of Israel who will just chuck it as normal and routine. Meanwhile, we are cajoling, urging and encouraging Palestinian and Israelis to resolve this contracted conflict and end Israel’s occupation. Do we seriously think that Israel’s mass detention policies and torture practices improve relations among Israelis and Palestinians?\u00a0 Promote trust between\u00a0Israeli and Palestinian? Or are helpful activities that will lead to an end to the conflict? \u00a0Most certainly not, but unfortunately we have come accustomed to expect substandard practices from our close ally. In the process we have diminished Israel’s human rights standards,\u00a0democratic values<\/a>, reputation and\u00a0international standing<\/a>. And whether we accept it or not\u00a0we carry a measure of responsibility for our silence.<\/p>\n

Aware or not- our tacit deference to Israel’s inhumane policies and procedures are rotting Israel’s moral standing,\u00a0numbing and polluting\u00a0<\/a>its society; and along the way we are also deadening our own conscience and lowering international common accepted norms. Meanwhile we are also sanctioning the same cruel techniques honed since 1967 on Palestinian prisoners\u00a0to abuse Israelis too<\/a>.\u00a0Regardless of what kind of resolution Palestinians and Israelis end up with- two states, a confederate state, or one state the scars of Israel’s wholesale inhumane treatment of Palestinians will not be forgotten or easily forgiven . Most certain the painful psychological trauma of Israel’s detention scheme will more than likely confront all involved once this tragic whirlwind settles-prisoners, jailers, and interrogators.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MAI ABDUL RAHMAN: The deaths of two individuals detained in Israeli prisons – one Palestinian, one Israeli – have made headlines. But it’s a very common occurrence <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":272,"featured_media":26186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,82,171,483,60,482],"tags":[16752,16755,1209,3244,16732,16751,1572,18311,16505,726,16753,1747,18286,16754,16614,580],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26120"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/272"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26120"}],"version-history":[{"count":54,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26198,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26120\/revisions\/26198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mideastposts.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}