Today, 6 May, marks one year since Ameer Makhoul, general director of Palestinian NGO-network Ittijah, was arrested in the night from his home in Haifa. Ameer was held without access to a lawyer for almost two weeks, and subjected to “interrogation” methods that included sleep deprivation and being kept shackled to a chair.
On the occasion of the anniversary, Ittijah issued a statement in which they “continue to insist that Ameer’s imprisonment is of a political nature.”
The imprisonment of Ameer constitutes another expression of the Israeli authorities’ policies that aim to restrict and suffocate the legitimate political actions and demands of Palestinians who are citizens of the state of Israel. By marginalizing our collective memory and history, they wish to get rid of us and transform us from victims to the guilty ones.
It's worth remembering today the context for Ameer's arrest. In 2007, the Shin Bet declared, in a letter by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, that the security service aims to "thwart the activity of any group or individual seeking to harm the Jewish and democratic character of the State of Israel, even if such activity is sanctioned by the law". In other words, to lawfully and peacefully challenge the 'Jewish character' of the state makes you a target.
A recently-published Wikileaks cable fleshes out this approach, with (now outgoing) Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin expressing his belief that "many" of the "Arab-Israeli population" are taking "their rights too far”.
In January 2009, Ameer was picked up by the Shin Bet for his role in the protests against the Israeli massacre in Gaza. During the "chat", one of the officers told Ameer that “next time he will be pleased to see Makhoul imprisoned, that Makhoul’s file is ready”, and that Makhoul “will have to say goodbye to his family since he will leave them for a long time”.
Thankfully, we are not bereft of Ameer's courage and insights, even though he is behind bars. He continues to speak to his fellow Palestinians, and activists, in letters from jail - including most recently on Prisoners Day. When I met him in his office in January 2010, Ameer commented on the recent trend of aggressively nationalistic and discriminatory legislation being proposed and passed in the Knesset.
The legislation is not giving more tools to oppress the Palestinians. They have all the tools already. These laws are not going to give Israel more control and power – this, in fact, is the Israeli crisis.
I don’t want to hear anyone glibly claiming, as they do, that Israel is a democracy ever again. No democracy worthy of the name locks its own citizens up, tortures them, offers no evidence for what it has done, and treats them as enemies of the state because they belong to a different group from the ruling elite. This is a police state, a bureaucratic thuggish one party state which shows no mercy to people who merely think different, campaign for justice for all citizens and have the courage to say so. Their mere existence, as reminders of the indigenous people whose state this once was, seems to provoke no end of fury amongst the militaristic ruling party. It is a disgrace, a stain on the concept of democracy, and should be sanctioned until they start observing the most basic laws of equal rights and treatment for all its citizens, regardless of ethnicity, religion or their beliefs. That is a fundamental requisite of any state which professes to be a ‘modern democracy’. Israel loves to pretend it is, whilst practicing something very different, more akin to Iran and China. Hypocrites.
the spirit of the palestinians has always been that of those magical eighteen days when we were in tarhrir square
the spirit of imminent change
no need to apply
it just happens
a just and free palestine, first item on our to-do list
Israel has shafted so many groups . And they all need justice.
Gaza, the 48 Palestinians, the qudsis and the rest of the 67 Palestinians, the Lebanese, the Egyptians. The fortress was already shaking in 2008 and the difficulties have multiplied since then. The old tactics of silence and violence are less effective. May Israel live in interesting times.
al qaeda’s call for revenge
wouldn’t that be like going the wrong way on a one way street?
what with perpetual war + global warming = doomsday
not to mention
time running out
with only enough left for maybe one play
something that turns out to have been a perfect call, considering the existing conditions back then
the deciding factor?
the spirit of those eighteen miraculous days in tahrir square
catching on everywhere
turnabout and beyond
by popular demand
live