Yesterday, I finished my dispatch with hopeful words. The ordeal of
the two Palestinian activists, 28-year-old ‘Assaf and 24-year-old Ran,
who were detained on Sunday, November 12, suspected of painting
graffiti in solidarity with Gaza’s people in Haifa, seemed to be
coming to a happy end. The state prosecution examined the contents of
the graffiti and decided that it did not contain “incitement”
(whatever that might be) or “identification with a terrorist
organization.” Two remand judges on Monday and Tuesday agreed to
extend their detention only for one day (each time) and cited a High
Court decision declaring that solidarity with the suffering of the
people of Gaza is not an offense. I finished reporting with the words,
“The judge concluded that the interrogation was about to be exhausted
and remanded until tomorrow.”

Today, we waited until noon just to know whether the police would ask
for another remand. They did. A small group of family and friends
gathered in the remand court where advocates Afnan Khalifa and Tamim
Shihab requested for the couple to be released. The police claimed
that they have twelve new “investigative activities” that they plan to
carry out, including three that the suspects might disrupt if they are
released. At this stage, all the investigation materials are still
secret, but from the prosecutor’s answers to the defense lawyers, we
could understand that they were referring to gathering testimony from
possible eyewitnesses that the police do not know yet… but they said
they might be able to identify some.

The defense lawyers explained to us that this is a well-known dirty
trick by the prosecution – to invent illusionary investigative steps
in order to keep suspects in jail. The real goal is to indict them
while still in jail. If they succeed in finishing the investigation
and file an indictment while the accused are still in jail, they can
request a remand until the end of the trial. This would mean a long
time in jail…

The judge, Ihsan Halabi, who spent many years as a prosecutor and a
judge in the occupation’s military courts, was not impressed by the
prosecution’s request. He concluded that, since the prosecution
decided that there was no incitement, the offenses that are still
relevant, vandalism of real estate and behavior that may violate
public order, do not deserve prolonged detention. He gave the police a
last chance to interview more witnesses until 18:00 p.m. and ordered
the release of the detainees by that time.

Reviving the ghost of “dangerousness”

The police used the few hours that were left to file an appeal. It was
heard at 16:30 before a judge named Ariyeh Ne’eman in the Haifa
district court. Even before the hearing started, the judge made it
clear that he was going to accept the appeal and remand the detention.

Lawyer Khalifa, who was representing both detainees in this hearing,
had an impossible dilemma on her hands. She could involuntarily
“agree” to the remand, giving legitimacy to the prosecution’s claims,
in the hope of avoiding harsh words from the judge to enter the
protocol. Or she could present her case to a judge who showed no
intention to hear her and take the risk that his decision may
adversely affect the next court hearings in the case.

She tried to consult the detainees, who were “virtually present” only
through a police cellphone, but they could hardly hear her. They were
shocked and terrified by the idea that they were going to be sent back
to the military prisons where they were held, and could not understand
their lawyer’s tactical considerations. In the end, Khalifa, not ready
to compromise in the name of her clients, rested her case, but to no
avail.

In his decision, judge Ne’eman, as we were afraid, returned the whole
case to the political framework of the big war that is now raging
between Israel and Palestinians everywhere. Detailing the
justifications for the remand, he wrote:

“There is also the reason of dangerousness: although the offenses
attributed to the respondents are vandalism of real estate and
behavior that may violate public peace, it is nevertheless a question
of spraying inscriptions, some of which express identification in
connection to the war that is taking place today. Although the state
itself examined the case and came to the conclusion that there is
nothing in the scriptures that were sprayed that constitutes
incitement or support for terrorism. However, it is impossible to
separate the offense itself attributed to the respondents (…) from the
content of the writings and the circumstances. In view of the hard
times, the war that plagues our region, the security situation, all
these are relevant, and they should be taken into account and weighed
when considering the reason of dangerousness.” (cited from the court’s
protocol.)

This all-encompassing “dangerousness” that is attributed to
Palestinians in the Israeli courts is the code word that opens the
gates of hell. It means that the accused, never mind what they
actually did, should be subject to the full fury of the colonizers.

Reports of abuse

‘Assaf was held in the Megiddo “security” prison, and Ran was held
with “security” women Palestinian prisoners in the Ha-Sharon detention
center near Natanya. Today, both were brought to the Haifa police
station for further interrogations. As they were currently held by the
police, they could only “attend” both hearings by WhatsApp, a common
practice “in these hard times.”

In the appeal hearing, as they just appeared on the cellphone screen,
they both complained emotionally about the harsh conditions in the
“security” prisons. They said they had no clean drinking water and had
to drink filthy water, which caused them vomiting, stomach aches, and
headaches. They requested to receive clean water and to be examined by
a doctor.

When the judge started to write his decision, and they understood that
they were going to be sent back to the security prisons where they
were held before, Ran burst into tears, begging for her life. She said
that the prison guards in Ha-Sharon were threatening the women
prisoners with rape. She said that she met many prisoners who had
severe signs of beating on their limbs and that the guards threatened
to beat her, too.

The prosecutor objected that her complaints would be written in the
protocol. She said it is against the conventional procedure that a
detainee would speak after the judge started to write his decision.
But the judge allowed it to be written. For him, it was just
formality, nothing to be concerned about.

At the end of his decision, he wrote:

“It was brought before me that the respondents have claims regarding
the conditions in the detention center as detailed above by their
attorney. I instruct the prisons’ authority to check the claims and
respond accordingly, including their request to see a medic and/or a
doctor, all in accordance with the prisons’ authority procedures.”

<continue reading>

https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/reports-of-harsh-conditions-and-abuse-in-israeli-security-prisons-where-palestinians-are-being-held-for-social-media-posts/

"From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"