Contact with enemy agents is so broad that it turns any meeting, phone conversation or online contact with an Arab from an enemy state into a criminal offense. This includes people living in the West Bank and Gaza; sometimes the security apparatus won't even say who the alleged agent is.
"It is a trap, a distortion that must be corrected," said the lawyer.
A HUGE media circus with promises of MAJOR criminal charges later fizzle out into minor indictments!
- 20.09.10
How dozens of Israeli Arab 'espionage' arrests ended in minor convictions
Attorney describes legal clause on contact with agents as 'a trap' that turns any interaction with an Arab from an enemy state into a criminal offense.
Dr. Omar Said in a Nazareth court, May 2010.
Dr. Omar Said, the Kafr Kana resident who was released last week after five months in jail, is one of dozens of Israeli Arabs who have been detained over allegations of security and espionage offenses. As in most of these cases, the story opened with massive media coverage and serious suspicions, but ended with a limited indictment - contact with an enemy agent - and a relatively short jail sentence.
Attorney Hussein Abuhussein, who represented Said and has witnessed many such security cases, told Haaretz that the legal clause pertaining to contact with enemy agents is so broad that it turns any meeting, phone conversation or online contact with an Arab from an enemy state into a criminal offense. Abuhussein says this includes people living in the West Bank and Gaza; sometimes the security apparatus won't even say who the alleged agent is.
"It is a trap, a distortion that must be corrected," he said.
Attorney Abeer Baker of Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, agrees that this clause has become a tool the prosecution uses to achieve quick convictions in security cases. In a recent position paper, she describes how the clause is used as leverage to pressure security detainees and their defense lawyers to sign plea bargains quickly. Once convicted, they can be sentenced to jail terms ranging from a few months to seven years.
The Shin Bet security service says the clause is being used increasingly due to the increased attempts by terror organizations, led by Hezbollah, to strike a foothold in the Israeli Arab community. The Shin Bet's website says Hezbollah is trying to enlist operatives from the Arab sector who can help them learn about Israel's military and security matters as well as the public mood.
In 2005 a plea bargain was signed with two dentists, Dr. Nazmi Hassin of Nazareth and Dr. Salem Zaydan of Kafr Manda. The two were first accused of aiding to the enemy in wartime for contact with a Hamas activist while they were studying in Romania. They admitted to one of the clauses in the indictment, contact with a foreign agent, and were sentenced to three and a half years in jail.
Dr. Said, first accused of aggravated espionage, agreed to a plea bargain that stated he made contact with a foreign agent, and was sentenced to seven months in jail. The agent was Hassan Jaja, a Lebanese citizen who has contacts with Hezbollah, who tried to recruit him along with Amir Makhoul. Although he confessed, Said continues to claim that the affair was nothing less than political persecution: "Jaja is active in civilian organizations and is well-acquainted with the special position of Arab citizens in Israel. The attempt to accuse him of recruiting agents is completely unfounded," Said said last week.
Read more at www.haaretz.com
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