Palestinians Go on Trial in Israel Military Courts

NABLUS, Israeli-Occupied West Bank —  “Everybody rise!” the translator/bailiff called as Lt. Col. Yehoshua Levi entered the courtroom Sunday and swept a big, gray alley cat from the seat of his judge’s chair.

The animal leaped over the bench and scrambled for cover in the forest of young Palestinian legs dangling from the defendants’ pews on one side of the dim, unheated room.

And for the next few minutes, as Levi postponed the first case because the defendant was missing, prisoners and their Israeli army guards alike “shooed” loudly to scare the cat away.

Wheels of Justice

That was the unusual scene as the wheels of military justice began turning here for some of the first youths to go on trial for their part in the recent wave of unrest that has been called 1952998688Bank and Gaza Strip since Israeli troops occupied the territories after the 1967 Six-Day War.

Senior Israeli military sources said Sunday that more than 900 Palestinian males, mostly aged 17 to 27, are now in detention awaiting trial as a result of that unrest. The majority were arrested in an extraordinary security sweep last week that Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said was meant to remove the organizers of disturbances.

“If these are the leaders, we can survive,” an Israeli journalist commented wryly as he watched the gathering of seemingly sheepish young Arab prisoners here Sunday.

The Israeli army sources said that three temporary military courts will open in other parts of the West Bank today to supplement the central one here in Nablus and ensure expedited handling of the flood of new cases.

In Jerusalem, meanwhile, a group of Israeli and Arab attorneys who regularly defend Palestinian prisoners said that, depending on how the West Bank trials proceed, they may join the action of their colleagues in Gaza, who are boycotting what they describe as assembly line justice in connection with latest unrest.

“We will not become the wholesalers of files,” said attorney Leah Tsemel, an Israeli, at a press conference. “This is what the system is trying to get us to do.”

Judging by the confused scene at army headquarters here in Nablus on Sunday, the system is taxed to the limit by the wave of arrests.

Lawyers, Clients Never Met

Defense attorneys sought out clients in the courtroom whom they had never before met, and others asked to be relieved of their duties because the prisoners and their families disagreed on their appointments.

Cases were less-than-adequately prepared by both prosecution and defense, and in one instance, there was brief confusion over the identity of a young man in the dock. Pleas were entered without any charges being read.

There was a constant stream of lawyers and clerks in and out of the courtroom, as they tried to sort out multicolored case files: powder blue folders for Judge Levi, light green for the army prosecutor, beige for the defense attorneys.

After more than 2 1/2 hours, Levi had sentenced three youths to a total of 11 months in jail for throwing stones. All had pleaded guilty.

19 Cases Postponed

Nineteen other cases, involving a total of 34 more defendants, were postponed for one to three days, mostly to give defense attorneys more time to familiarize themselves with the details.

Israel radio reported that the Gaza military court sentenced 13 of 23 alleged demonstrators there Sunday to terms of up to three months in jail. Ten more cases were postponed.

The Israeli authorities allowed print journalists to observe the Nablus trials Sunday, but photographers, television reporters and family members were generally not allowed inside. Several dozen relatives of defendants stood in a cold drizzle outside the regional army headquarters, apparently waiting for word of the proceedings. Still and TV cameras were admitted to the small courtroom for only a few minutes to film half a dozen prisoners who were escorted back to their seats from a brief recess.

A young woman soldier acting as a court clerk chewed bubble gum distractedly during the proceedings, while an Israeli Arab acted as bailiff and translator.

Judge, Defendant Dressed Alike

Levi wore a hooded, olive green army parka in the chilly courtroom, at one point facing a Palestinian defendant attired in the same army-issue jacket. The only difference was that Levi’s parka bore the insignia of his rank.

The officer postponed the first 17 cases in a row. When defendant Ziyad Arafa said that he needed a lawyer, Levi motioned toward the defense table and commented, “So--you have a bunch of them right here.” The case was postponed until Thursday.

In cases where the defendant was nearing the 18-day limit for the time a prisoner can be held without trial in the territories, the judge extended his remand.

After more than an hour of proceedings and 17 postponed cases, Maher Abdel Khadi, 15, became the first Palestinian convicted. He pleaded guilty to acting as lookout for school friends who stoned Israeli vehicles near here. He was sentenced to 15 months in jail with 13 1/2 months suspended, plus a 500-shekel (about $300) fine.

Throws Self on Court

Khamis abu Jabariyeh was next, throwing himself on the mercy of the court after pleading guilty to stoning cars. His lawyer said that Abu Jabariyeh was 14, but Levi insisted he was 17.

“This is the first and last time, and he’s sorry,” said his attorney as the gangling youth stood motionless, his protruding ears accentuated by his thin physique and close-cropped hair. The boy is one of a family of 15 children and his income is vital to their well-being, the lawyer added.

“This is what I want to hear from him, not from you,” Levi responded, and Abu Jabariyeh dutifully repeated his attorney’s words.

He was sentenced to 24 months in jail with 16 months suspended because he had done what the prosecutor described as “very severe” damage to the vehicle he stoned.

Nasser Khakneh, 16, got the day’s lightest sentence because he had also been shot in the legs by soldiers after allegedly throwing stones and a firebomb at Israeli forces in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus on Dec. 14. He was sentenced to 15 months in jail with 13 1/2 months suspended, but his fine was only 300 shekels (about $200).

900 Cases to Be Tried

Military sources said it is impossible to say how long it will take to process all 900 cases. About 60 people, including a few tried late last week, are already serving their sentences.

Meanwhile, defense sources said that more Palestinian demonstrators and instigators are still being arrested. And in the West Bank, there were more than 400 individuals awaiting trial for offenses charged against them before the latest wave of violence began Dec. 9.

Despite the large number of cases suspended by Levi, Palestinian lawyer Ibrahim Barghouthi complained that he still hasn’t enough time to prepare a proper defense. “I have maybe 100 (case) files,” he said, 10 of which were called Sunday.

In Jerusalem, the group of defense lawyers asserted that their clients are regularly mistreated in prison and that the military court system encourages confessions by giving harsher sentences to those who unsuccessfully plead innocent.

Israeli military sources denied those allegations and said that all defendants rounded up in the latest sweep will be treated exactly the same as in past West Bank and Gaza Strip cases.