August 10, 2016, +972 Magazine http://972mag.com
(Israel)
By Noam Rotem*
Palestinian journalist Omar
Nazzal has been in custody without charges put in administrative
detention for nearly four months. For the most part, his Israeli
counterparts have remained decidedly silent.
(Palestinian journalists protest in solidarity
with their colleague Omar Nazzal, who was put in administrative detention in
late April, April 29, 2016. (Flash90)
The Union of Journalists in Israel made an
appeal this week for solidarity with investigative reporter Sharon Shpurer, who
was sued for libel by Urban, a real estate development company, after she
revealed on her Facebook page that it was owned by a convicted human
trafficker.
The union’s call to collectively foot the NIS
1.7 million bill, in the
event Shpurer loses, is admirable. However, it begs
the question where all that solidarity can be found when non-Jews are involved.
Today marks 100 days since the arrest of
Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal, who since April has been kept in custody without being
charged. Few Israeli journalists addressed this flagrant violation
of the freedom of the press, and none of them launched a solidarity campaign.
In the spirit of the Union of Journalists’
activism and solidarity, I was expecting a similar campaign: recruiting
journalists who are willing to spend one day in custody instead of Nazzal. A
hundred days have gone by, leaving only 23 until the arbitrary arrest that was
imposed on him by the GOC Central Command expires (barring extensions). What we
need are 23 brave journalists to show solidarity with a 53-year-old father of
three who was sent to jail without being convicted of a single crime.
Shpurer’s supporters, as well-meaning and
conscientious as they are, know they risk nothing by standing up for her. The
chances of her losing the case are minute, and their gesture comprises of
nothing more than a pseudo-activist defense of freedom of the press. It
involves neither professional nor civilian courage. What we have here is a sex
trafficker and the journalist who uncovered him — there is a clear line between
good and evil.
But not in Nazzal’s case. The Shin Bet — the
Great Gods of Security — decided to imprison him, and most Israeli
journalists accept this fact with no questions asked. Courageous
journalism would be to stand up for Nazzal as well as Shpurer.
Arrested out of the blue
Nazzal, a Ramallah-based independent journalist
and a member of the board of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, was
arrested near the end of April while trying to leave the West Bank en
route to Sarajevo for a meeting of the European Federation of Journalists. A
few days later Israeli authorities issued an administrative arrest warrant
against him.
The Shin Bet claims Nazzal was a member of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Israel designates
as a terrorist organization. His attorney has denied the allegation.
A few days later the military prosecutor
acknowledged at a hearing held at Ofer Military Prison that there was
insufficient evidence to bring charges against Nazzal. Nevertheless he claimed
that there was enough classified material against him to justify administrative
detention; the military court subsequently accepted this claim.
Nazzal was then imprisoned with neither the
right to know what he was accused of, nor the right to defend himself against
the charges. Administrative detention orders can be extended for up to six
months at a time, with no limit on the number of renewals.
Journalist associations from around the world,
as well as the Palestinian Authority, published calls for his release and held
solidarity vigils.
“It was shocking to hear that a participant to
a congress for journalists from all over Europe has been arrested by the
Israeli authorities without any reason being given,” said Jim Boumelha,
president of the International Federation of Journalists. “The 100
delegates representing over 320,000 journalists in 51 unions from all over
Europe will be demanding that their colleague is released immediately.”
The Shin Bet emphasized that Nazzal was
arrested for his involvement in terrorist activity.
“Nazzal had recently been appointed director of
[Palestinian television station] Falastin al-Youm, which was declared illegal
in February 2016,” a spokesperson said. “He has been associated with the PFLP
for years, including very recently.”
Hunger strike as last resort
Six days ago, ahead of a hearing on his
petition for release, Nazzal began a hunger strike. When the High Court of
Justice rejected his petition, he decided to continue hunger striking in solidarity with Bilal Kayed, who has
been on hunger strike for 56 days. According to the Palestinian Prisoners
Club, some 80 prisoners and detainees in three separate Israeli facilities are
currently taking part in the solidarity campaign.
Nazzal’s attorney, who visited him yesterday,
said he claimed the prison wardens have threatened to force-feed him, locking
him in a van parked in the heat, until he almost fainted.
Solidarity matters
It’s worth mentioning again: Nazzal has not
been convicted of anything. The prosecution itself admitted there is not enough
evidence for an indictment. His arrest is a flagrant affront to the freedom of
the press that the Israeli mainstream media — steeped in its privileges — has
somehow ignored.
Solidarity isn’t just about standing up for the
oppressed and the weak in time of need. It is also a preventative tool that
ensures sure that what happens to one will not happen to another.
The reassurance of many of Nazzal’s Israeli
colleagues that what happened to him could not happen to them is naïve and
misguided. Practices that originated in the dark heartlands of the West Bank
have slowly permeated into Israel proper, and from the silence of the
journalists, in this case, we are all set to lose.
*Noam Rotem: Is an Israeli activist, high-tech executive and blogger at
Local Call, where this article was first published in Hebrew. Read it here.
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