Before I launch into Part 2 of this social media human-themed blog I should update you on Omar (see Part 1). We have actually heard some news – but it is not good. However, before any of it is confirmed I am reluctant to put it out there in this (semi) public forum. For starters, it is very difficult to know what to believe.
However, in Shawan’s case this trip is anything but routine. This is because Shawan has not left the West Bank for six years due to a travel ban imposed on him by the Israeli authorities since he was appointed director of Al-Haq in 2006.
None of us have known Omar very long and although it seems impossible, for those of us who know him as the big loveable goalie from al-‘Amari, to imagine Omar being involved in anything untoward, it is rare to find a young Palestinian man who has not been in trouble with the Israeli authorities at one time or another, legitimately or not. Having said that, we all know that the Israeli military ‘have ways of making people talk’, of making people sign confessions and of locking people away on the basis of testimonies taken under duress. (They even do it with kids.) So it is difficult to know what to think.
At this stage all we can do is wait anxiously and hope that Omar is not the latest in a long line of Palestinians jailed on dubious grounds, and if he is, that he is able to stay of sound mind and body and is returned to us before too long.
Part 2
(This story will be short because much of it has been written by far more qualified individuals than I - see Human Rights Watch, Electronic Intifada, B’tselem.)
Shawan Jabarin, the General Director of Al-Haq, my boss and, I would like to think, a friend, is as I write on a flight back from Geneva. This, in itself, is unremarkable. Representatives of Al-Haq regularly travel to Geneva to attend sessions of the Human Rights Council and report on the situation in the OPT.
It is important to note that restrictions on movement are regrettably normal for Palestinians. None of those holding a West Bank ID can go to Israel or even (occupied) East Jerusalem. But, visa depending, they can travel abroad via Jordan. For Shawan, even this has been impossible, having been turned back by the Israel authorities at the border crossing every time since 2006.
The reason given for this arbitrary and egregious infringement of Shawan’s freedom of movement is that he is a ‘security threat’. Now you would think that the Israelis would prefer such a 'security threat' be as far away as possible but not here in the land where reason and good sense are left at the immigration desk. They seem to want to hold him close.
Neither Shawan nor his lawyers have ever been shown any evidence supporting the claims of the Israeli authorities. I bore witness to these opaque legal proceedings last week when I attended Shawan’s fourth appeal hearing at the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem (naturally, Shawan was unable to attend in person…).
Or rather, I didn’t really witness anything as I, along with everyone else including Shawan’s defence attorneys and even the clerk of the court were told to wait outside while a closed hearing was conducted to examine the secret file of evidence held against Shawan by the prosecution.
When we were invited back in the court room we were surprised to hear (via translation, as everything is conducted in Hebrew) the prosecution offer a deal allowing Shawan to travel just this once on the conditions that he travels on specific dates, attends only certain meetings and, ludicrously, promises not to partake in any terrorist activities. Given that he has committed his life to defending human rights and not waging terror it is unlikely that he going to make the switch now.
The (incidental) social media angle of this story is that I had lots of fun tweeting from inside the Supreme Court and even more fun seeing my words retweeted to tens of thousands of followers and even quoted verbatim by Ali Abunimah, renowned Palestinian activist and blogger.
Obviously this all seems rather frivolous within the bigger picture but it did open my eyes a little more to the empowering qualities of social media and mobile tech. With a few quick SMSs I was able to inform thousands of people of the real-time proceedings at the appeal hearing. Apply the same basic technology to mass movements and it makes you realise that all this chatter about the 'power of social media' is more than just lazy-journalist-touted cliché.
Anyway, back to the important stuff. Shawan is about to touch down in Amman. When he crosses the bridge back into the OPT tomorrow he will once more by under a full travel ban. This may be his last trip for a very long time. So let’s hope he brought us back lots of chocolates, eh?
Seriously, we hope that this will not be the case. We hope this 'temporary exemption' is just the first crack in the dam and with the continued support of international human rights organisations like Amnesty, HRW and those Israeli NGOs calling for the ban to be overturned, that we can pressure the Israeli authorities to unlock the doors on Shawan’s ‘big prison’.
Shawan would not forgive me if I finished without mentioning the thousands of Palestinians currently being deprived of every ounce of their freedom – particularly the 315 men and women held by Israel in administrative detention, without charge or trial.
Although this issue has made the headlines in recent weeks due to Khader Adnan’s heroic 66 days of hunger strike - Israel’s canny deal-making and the media’s fickle nature means that it is has quickly fallen from the radar. If you want a little insight into the horrible, dehumanising effect of administrative detention read Shawan’s op-ed in The National which came out this week. This latest travel ban episode is by no means Shawan’s hardest battle.
(P.S My weather-obsessed British friends would not forgive me if I didn’t mention that it snowed last night in Ramallah for first time in a few years. Unfortunately it did not last long enough for me to get my sorry ass out of bed and build a snowman. Shame.)
No comments:
Post a Comment