Free Mohammad Othman, Part 2

posted by Peter Rothberg on 10/28/2009 @ 1:30pm

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This post was written by Nation intern and freelance writer Andrea D'Cruz.

Mohammad Othman, the Palestinian Stop the Wall and Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions activist, had his detention extended yesterday by an additional 13 days by an Israeli military court. He has so far been held in solitary containment for 37 days, with no charges or evidence brought against him.

Read this recent post for background on his story.

Othman is one of some 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, currently being held by Israel, including 800 who are incarcerated under administrative detention (indefinite imprisonment without charge) and 326 children.

"The case of Mohammad sheds light on an entire system of repression against Palestinian human rights defenders and the impossibility of the Israeli judicial system to grant justice to the Palestinian people," said Jamal Juma' of Stop the Wall. Juma described how a few month's before Othman's arrest, "Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint within the West Bank had taken him aside and threatened him with arrest. ‘We're going to arrest you,' one said, ‘but it's difficult with you because all you do is talk.'"

Since Othman's arrest on September 22 protests have been held worldwide, including one organized recently in New York by Adalah-NY. The group handed out hundreds of flyers, adorned with a comic by Ethan Heitner, entitled "Jailed for an Idea". The black and white panels depict Othman's story along with twenty-eight other anti-wall activists from the village of Bi'lin who have been arrested since June. You can download the flyer here to print and distribute, while a previous Act Now post suggests other ways to help--all of which are increasingly urgent.

On the other side of the wall, Ezra Nawi, the Israeli anti-occupation campaigner who so passionately wrote about his own arrest for The Nation earlier this year, was sentenced on October 21 to a month in prison, fined 750 NIS and made to compensate each of the policemen he allegedly attacked with 500 NIS each.

Nawi, a non-violent activist with the Arab-Jewish group Ta'ayush, was convicted after two police officers alleged he hit them while struggling against the demolition of a Palestinian house in the southern West Bank in 2007. As Nawi's article suggests, his sentencing illuminates the discriminatory practices of the Israeli state and its attitude to those among its citizenry who go against the government to seek peace and justice. Check back at supportezra.net for ways to help.

Comments (39)

As I read this article I kept thinking about the number of prisoners that the US has locked up without charges or evidence brought against them in Gitmo. Until we address our own human rights violations I have a hard time pointing out someone else's.

From the Goldstone report on Israel's actions in Gaza to this report of jailed dissidents, I am deeply saddened that a Jewish state could sink to such lows. It appears they have truly lost the path of the righteous

Posted by Extraneous at 10/28/2009 @ 6:44pm
This weekly attempt to slur Israel brings certain things to mind.

Like the old joke about the Jew who loves reading anti-Semitic magazines? When asked why he says, "When I read Jewish newspapers, all I hear is that we're hated. When I read the anti-Semitic alternatives, they tell me we run the world!"

That's what the Nation has become, just another anti-semitic alternative paper.

Posted by antisocialist at 10/28/2009 @ 8:06pm
It is interesting to note that neither Al Jazeera nor the Jerusalem Post consider Mohammad Othman newsworthy.

Posted by antisocialist at 10/28/2009 @ 8:34pm
<i>oh little town of bethlehem.....</i>

The Bethlehem Wall with its length of 15 km is segregating more than 15,000 dunums of Palestinian agricultural lands planted mostly with olive trees and belonging to Palestinian citizens living in Bethlehem area. The Wall in Rachel's Tomb area will confiscate for the footprint and buffer zone some 18 dunums of land while isolating "behind" the Wall some 3,000 dunums. Since 1967, more than 14 thousands dunums have been confiscated due to the establishment and expansion of Israeli/Jewish settlements located at the northern portions of Bethlehem. The Wall is therefore a doubling of the (de facto) confiscation of all of Bethlehem's lands since the start of the Occupation.

For both portions of the Wall, dozens of houses are expected to be demolished and thousands of dunums confiscated. Confiscations have already begun; military orders have already been given.

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/28/2009 @ 9:02pm
uh, larry,

the "jordanians" are semites, too.

YOU are the anti-semite.

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/28/2009 @ 9:03pm
"Unfortunately, today, in twenty-first-century Israel, fewer Israelis toil the earth, the moshavirn, Jewish agricultural communities are sparser, so this bond between land, man and the season is disappearing fast, losing context once again,"

From___The Olive Route by Carol Drinkwater

A "travel" book about the history, lore, beauty & utility of the olive as well as the people & sometimes the politics of the Eastern Mediterranean, including an interesting chapter on Israel.

So after chopping down the olive trees, rather than ploughing salt into the soil a la Romans vs. Carthagenians, there'll just be more settlement building.

Posted by Sorelish at 10/29/2009 @ 12:35am
Posted by antisocialist at 10/28/2009 @ 8:34pm

Also interesting you couldn't find any way to directly attack Othman or support Israel in detaining him.

((No doubt, you're researching as we speak at all the "Israel: Right or Wrong" websites...so we'll wait))

Posted by Mask at 10/29/2009 @ 07:18am
The Bethlehem Wall with its length of 15 km

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/28/2009 @ 9:02pm

Bad strategy. The only place the Muslims claim to care about is Jerusalem ("Third Holiest yadda yadda"), so the Israelis should concentrate their population there. Probably won't work, though: even if Iran doesn't hit it, the fallout from Ahmedinajad's nukes in Tel-Aviv and elsewhere will dust Jerusalem anyway.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 09:07am
Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 09:07am

Hang on, Mistral...we're still packing away the "tons of nerve gas that Saddam will give Al Qaeda to use against New York" decorations.

Once that's done, we'll put out the "massive fallout from Ahmadinejad's nukes from the Tel Aviv strikes" ones.

Okay?

Posted by Mask at 10/29/2009 @ 09:24am
Sounds like a simple "police matter" of assualt on a police officer (or two) just like here in the U.S.A. that is being overblown as usual by leftist with an agenda!!!

Posted by BigPasture at 10/29/2009 @ 09:50am
Like the old joke about the Jew who loves reading anti-Semitic magazines? When asked why he says, "When I read Jewish newspapers, all I hear is that we're hated. When I read the anti-Semitic alternatives, they tell me we run the world!"

Posted by antisocialist at 10/28/2009 @ 8:06pm

Yes, but even the Völkischer Beobachter didn't say they were going to wipe the Jews off the map. Bust the windows in their stores and boycott them, maybe, but their plans for annihilation they were a bit more subtle about. Perhaps because back then world opinion would be more outraged.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 11:35am
Bad strategy. The only place the Muslims claim to care about is Jerusalem ("Third Holiest yadda yadda"), so the Israelis should concentrate their population there. Probably won't work, though: even if Iran doesn't hit it, the fallout from Ahmedinajad's nukes in Tel-Aviv and elsewhere will dust Jerusalem anyway.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 09:07am

oh, lord, another anti-semite.

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/29/2009 @ 12:33pm
Yes, but even the Völkischer Beobachter didn't say they were going to wipe the Jews off the map. Bust the windows in their stores and boycott them, maybe, but their plans for annihilation they were a bit more subtle about. Perhaps because back then world opinion would be more outraged.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 11:35am

uh, wouldn't it be cheaper to start wiping jews off their OWN map, first:

The Constitution of Iran says that Jews are equal to Muslims. Imam Khomeini visited with members of the Jewish community and issued a decree ordering the adherents of Judaism and other revealed religions to be protected. Jews are entitled to self-administration and one member of the 290-seat Majlis is elected by only Jews. Jewish burial rites and divorce laws are accepted by Islamic courts. Tehran has over 20 synagogues. Iran has one of only four Jewish charity hospitals in the world. The hospital has received donations from top Iranian officials, including President Ahmadinejad. Kosher butcher shops are available in Iran. There are Hebrew schools and coeducation is allowed.

Jews are conscripted into the Army like all Iranian citizens. Many Iranian Jews fought during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) as drafted soldiers. About 15 were killed.[59] It has been reported that Jews in Iran are proud of their heritage. Thus, they have not settled in Israel despite being encouraged by some groups.

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/29/2009 @ 12:40pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/29/2009 @ 12:40pm

That's such a lie. I know many Jews here in the US who fled Iran after the Ayatollahs takeover.

Yes, Jews can live in Iran as long as the agree to submit to Islam and pay the Jizyah tax.

<In Islam, all non-Muslims are called unbelievers or infidels. The treatment of the infidels in Islam is divided into two categories. The polytheists, pagans, idolaters and heathens have the choice of converting to Islam or suffer death. The Jews and Christians, whom the Koran calls people of the book, can retain their religion but on the sufferance of accepting humiliation and subjugation to Islam and payment of Jizyah (poll-tax) to the Islamic rulers>

http://tinyurl.com/yjd4dvj

Posted by antisocialist at 10/29/2009 @ 1:15pm
That's what the Nation has become, just another anti-semitic alternative paper.

Posted by antisocialist at 10/28/2009 @ 8:06pm

Really Larry? You are completely lacking any logic here. Anytime someone criticizes Israel who scream anti-semite! Come on! That is weak. Israel is a country, that is run by people. Those people are flawed and their policies are flawed. Who cares if they are also jewish, it is irrelevant. If a muslim country treated its Christian populations the same way the Israelis treat the palestians you would be outraged and advocating military action.

Your claims that anytime someone criticizes Israel they are anti-semites are equal to those who claim racism anytime someone criticizes Obama.

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 1:20pm
criticizes Israel *who* scream anti-semite

should be *you*

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 1:39pm
Has Larry YET come up with a way to attack Mohammed Othman or defend his detainment?

Weird. I'd figure the "Israel, first, last, and always" sites would have SOMETHING to throw at the guy by now?!??!?

Posted by Mask at 10/29/2009 @ 1:43pm
'If a muslim country treated its Christian populations the same way the Israelis treat the palestians' -- Extraneous

'If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my daughters sleep at night, I am going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.' -- Barack Obama -- http://transcripts.cnn.com/ TRANSCRIPTS/0812/29/ acd.01.html

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 1:51pm
Maybe they can work out a trade: Othman for Gilad Shalit.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 1:57pm
'If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my daughters sleep at night, I am going to do everything in my power to stop that. I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.' -- Barack Obama -- http://transcripts.cnn.com/ TRANSCRIPTS/0812/29/ acd.01.html

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 1:51pm

And your point is?

If home was bull dozed to build a new settlement, and your child shot in the head for throwing a rock at the bull dozer, you would launch rockets too.

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 2:05pm
*your home*

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 2:07pm
'you would launch rockets too.' -- Extraneous

The jews of Gaza, some whose families had lived there for thousands of years, relinquished their land in an attempt to negotiate peace.

If my opponent had given up her home land to me as an peace offering, I hope I would have the courage to sit at the negotiating table instead of using the rubble of her house as a launch pad for katyushas, while I parked my children in front of me as shields.

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 3:01pm
Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 3:01pm

Give it up. Everybody will always find somebody to blame. Take the long view: this conflict is going to be like the Balkans. The people who fought the Battle of Kosovo probably thought they had settled things. They couldn't have known that the unrest would simmer down to the 20th century (remember the Archduke Franw Ferdinand?) and beyond.

At least now that the Cold War is over the killing in the Middle Eqst is less likely to spark World War III.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 3:14pm
'At least now that the Cold War is over the killing in the Middle Eqst is less likely to spark World War III.' -- Mistral

In the earlier post you were talking about nuclear war. Now you're saying the conflict will drag out. Or is it just better if the nukes hit Israel only, instead of a worldwide holocaust?

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 3:18pm
SQUISH THE TOWELHEADS!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/29/2009 @ 3:19pm
a worldwide holocaust?

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 3:18pm

Easy to avoid it: just get the President of whatever is left of Iran to declare that it didn't happen.

Posted by Mistral at 10/29/2009 @ 3:35pm
The jews of Gaza, some whose families had lived there for thousands of years, relinquished their land in an attempt to negotiate peace.

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 3:01pm

Sure, as did some Palestinians at the time,however far more Palestinians had their homes and land stolen from them to create Israel, nice gesture by a few, scarcely makes up for the wrongs of many.

Neither side in this conflict is innocent the Israeli's keep pushing new settlements into palestinian land. Any efforts by the palestinians to halt those expansion and thefts of their farms and property are met with soldiers and armed settlers. They are powerless to push back from a conventional standpoint.

I am not saying the launching of rockets into civilian areas is justified. All I am saying is the Palestinian anger toward Israel is justified.

The recent Gaza invasion killed over 1000 palestinians, with over 4000 wounded. This happened over the first 19 days. In contrast, between 2001 and 2008, 13 Israelis had been killed by rocket attacks and 400 wounded. I think talk of 40 year old peace offerings are about as relevant as a 40 year old computer.

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 4:00pm
'40 year old peace offerings' -- Extraneous

Those withdrawals were in 2005, when Israeli troops dragged out the last Jews from Gaza. Will the palestinian soldiers now go into Israel and drag out the Muslims who live there as a peace offering?

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 5:04pm
Since the column doesn't bother to give us Israel's explanation for his detention, it's not possible to evaluate the situation. If only one side gets to present its evidence and argument at a trial, that party will win.

The column is propoganda, or what can be referred to as a hatchet job.

Posted by gren at 10/29/2009 @ 5:20pm
Those withdrawals were in 2005, when Israeli troops dragged out the last Jews from Gaza. Will the palestinian soldiers now go into Israel and drag out the Muslims who live there as a peace offering?

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 5:04pm

See this is where you just don't get it. This is not about jews and muslims, it is about Israeli's and Palestinians. Those were Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip the Gaza Strip as is the West Bank is supposed to be Palestinian land. There are no Palestinian settlements in Israel proper. For muslims to be dragged out of. Where are the areas of Israel proper that are restricted access for Israelis? Take a look at the Settlement map of the West Bank, maybe that will help you understand. Just google it.

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 5:31pm
'This is not about jews and muslims, it is about Israeli's and Palestinians.' -- Extraneous

For what reason then did the Arabs attack Israel in 1948? Israel was a postage stamp of land with no oil or other natural resources in a disintegrating British colony.

Maybe the Palestinians should think about what happened to the Germans when they attacked the USSR in 1941. Suppose after their defeat they had come to the United Nations and said, 'OK, you won, but we won't sign a peace treaty until you return East Prussia.' What would the United nations say?

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 5:52pm
'Those were Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip' -- Extraneous

Does this mean Jews are not allowed to live in the Gaza strip? Suppose a Jew were to say, 'My family lived in Khan Yunis for twenty generations, I demand the right to return to the land that holds the foundations of my family's home that was burnt down in 1948.' What would Mahmoud Abbas say?

Perhaps we should just do what was done between Turkey and Greece after the first world war: exchange of populations (and, by the way, Constantinople, you're never going to get it back, but we'll make a nice mosque out of the Hagia Sophia).

Enough for tonight. Have to catch the red-eye. Try to connect via Blackberry.

Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 6:16pm
Posted by HonestLiberal at 10/29/2009 @ 6:16pm

IN 1922 Jews comprised 11% of the area that is now Israel. That is a minority. After the 1948 war 750,000 Palestinians were forced to leave their homes. The areas they were allowed and promised under the UN Charter and subsequent Oslo agreements were the Gaza strip and west bank, however, Israel has seen massive immigration and has developed settlements into the areas that should be Palestinian. Within the west bank the Palestinians are not allowed to use the same roads as the Israelis, they have no access to airports, they live under constant survelience and control by the IDF, they don't have the resources to make a living, and the Israelis keep expanding their settlements. The vast majority of areas with lands suitable to agriculture have been stolen from the Palestinians.

I don't get how the Israeli's continue to play the victim card when you look at the quality of life they have compared to that of the Palestinians. Rocket attacks answered by aerial bombardments, one is terrorist actions the other is just the cost of war?

There is not a simpel answer, both sides are guilty of crimes and terrorism against the other.

-Nite...

Posted by Extraneous at 10/29/2009 @ 7:24pm
This weekly attempt to slur Israel brings certain things to mind.

Posted by antisocialist at 10/28/2009 @ 8:06pm | ignore this person | warn this person

There's nothing wrong with criticizing Israel. If people in Israel weren't routinely jailed for it, it probably wouldn't be so popular. Aside from that, no one is above criticism. No one. The conduct of the Israeli government has been horrible in a lot of ways. Their treatment of regular Palestinian civilians over the years has been brutal. One would think that a state composed of so many people who have been the victims of state sanctioned persecution would make more of an effort to take the high road on human rights. I understand why they have reached this point, but it is very disappointing.

Posted by Milhaus at 10/30/2009 @ 07:10am
Posted by Milhaus at 10/30/2009 @ 07:10am

Sorry, Mil...no "middle ground" allowed on an Israel-Palestine thread.

Any criticism of Israel...you're an "anti-Semite who wants Israel completely destroyed".

Failure to demand Israel be embargoed/sanctioned...you're a "Zionist stooge of AIPAC".

No compromises or rational thought need apply.

Posted by Mask at 10/30/2009 @ 07:35am
I understand why they have reached this point, but it is very disappointing.

Posted by Milhaus at 10/30/2009 @ 07:10am

This may be one of the tactics that has a chance of defeating the Israelis: attack, attack, attack, if you can't win by fair means on the battlefield, try terror bombings, kidnappings, assassination of diplomats, economic boycotts, rocket and mortar fire from neighboring countries, even killing their athletes at the Olympics.

Eventually the neverending war, the massive assault of over a billion muslims, fueled by Arab and Persian oil money, will break down any society, the moderates will fade, the extremists will feel themselves vindicated, the population will want a Jean Reno or Clint Eastwood rather than a Gandhi or Mandela, and the tactics will get dirty. At that point the enemies of Israel can stand up and say, "You see, they are immoral, the Jews don't deserve to have a state."

Posted by Mistral at 10/30/2009 @ 08:51am
Eventually the neverending war, the massive assault of over a billion muslims, fueled by Arab and Persian oil money, will break down any society, the moderates will fade, the extremists will feel themselves vindicated, the population will want a Jean Reno or Clint Eastwood rather than a Gandhi or Mandela, and the tactics will get dirty. At that point the enemies of Israel can stand up and say, "You see, they are immoral, the Jews don't deserve to have a state."

Posted by Mistral at 10/30/2009 @ 08:51am

Funny, this has already happened...but to the Palestinians.

Posted by Extraneous at 10/30/2009 @ 4:11pm
if you can't win by fair means on the battlefield,

Posted by Mistral at 10/30/2009 @ 08:51am

stupid humans.

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/30/2009 @ 10:46pm
stupid humans.

Posted by frosty zoom at 10/30/2009 @ 10:46pm

Dr. Zaius! They've gone to the forbidden zone!

Posted by Mistral at 11/02/2009 @ 08:54am