The other day I vowed to show this video of Adeeb Abu Rahma till everyone in America had seen it. And I’m just stupid enough to try.
Because if anything can change the American paradigm of Palestinian resistance, it is watching Adeeb Abu Rahma, at a demonstration in 2008 in Bil’in, brave bullets and then almost break down as he calls on the Israeli soldiers who have occupied his land to show that they have hearts.
As Susan Abulhawa tweeted the scene: “one man armed only with truth immobilizes an entire platoon of soldiers.”
No wonder they arrested Abu Rahma and have jailed him for over two years.
Well there’s news about Abu Rahma. In a post titled, “Israel Crushes a Palestinian Gandhi: Bil’in Organizer Sentenced to 18 months,” Joseph Dana (who turned me on to the video in the first place) gives the latest:
Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals accepted the Military prosecution’s appeal in Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case today, which demanded to harshen the already heavy-handed one-year sentence imposed on him by the prior instance back in July. The court sentenced Abu Rahmah 18 months of imprisonment with bail of 6,000 NIS and suspended sentence of 1 year. An appeal filed by the defense both on the severity of the punishment and on the conviction itself was denied.
Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s sentence is the first to be handed by the Military Court of Appeals in a series of recent trials against high-profile Palestinian anti-Wall grassroots organizers. The harsh and imbalanced decision is likely to affect other cases, most notably that of Abdallah Abu Rahmah – the Bil’in organizer declared human rights defender by the EU – who was too recently sentenced to a year in jail by the first instance of the military court.
Adeeb Abu Rahmah’s case relied heavily on the forced confessions of four minors arrested in nighttime raids by Israeli soldiers. The four attested in court to having been coerced into incriminating Abu Rahmah and other organizers during the course of their police investigations. They were also questioned unlawfully, denied counsel and without their parents being present and, in some cases, late at night.
And now Robert Mackey at the New York Times has picked up Dana’s reporting. Good work, Mackey; now watch that video. Please get it out to the people!
