|
 26th
January 2006
An open letter from Arnold Roth,
Jerusalem.
To: Chief Superintendent Ian Domnitz
International Relations Branch
Israel Prison Service
Jerusalem
Dear Mr Domnitz,
I would be grateful for your help in
getting to the root of a troubling matter.
Marwan Barghouti, the leader of
Arafat's Fatah movement in the West Bank and closely identified with
what the
BBC calls "one of its militant offshoots", the al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigade, was arrested by the Israeli authorities in April 2002 and
charged with the killing of 26 people and belonging to a terrorist
organisation. On May 20, 2004, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted
Barghouti of three terror attacks in which five Israelis were
murdered. He was convicted of attempted murder, convicted of
membership in a terror organization and convicted of conspiracy to
commit a crime.
On June 6, 2004, Barghouti was sentenced
to five consecutive life terms and 40 years. He is therefore a
convicted terrorist and a convicted murderer. It is worth adding
that at the trial of Barghouti's nephew and aide Ahmed Barghouti,
revelations were made that Uncle Marwan hid the terror gang
members who carried out the Sbarro restaurant massacre in Jerusalem
in August 2001. Fifteen innocent civilians died there that day. Fair
disclosure: one of those murdered was my 15 year-old daughter
Malki. (I make no pretence
to being dispassionate about this particular thug.)
In light of these matters, why, in your
capacity as Israel Prison Service spokesperson, did you - an
accomplished and fluent speaker of the English language - refer
again and again in a BBC World Service radio interview yesterday
(January 24, 2006) to Marwan Barghouti as "security prisoner"?
My recollection is you used that expression half a dozen times or
more in a single interview, speaking deliberately and fluently. No
slip of the tongue seems to have been involved.
It's clear enough that, for their part,
Barghouti and gang want his multiple convictions for murder and
terrorism to be expunged from the record, the faster the better.
Claiming him as a security prisoner or a political prisoner plainly
serves Barghouti's interests. The question for Israelis is whether
this is (a) justified and (b) in the interests of Israelis.
These are highly charged times. In the
run-up to today's elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council,
left-wing extremists like Joseph Beilin have called for Barghouti to
be released from his Israeli jail-cell. Beilin has
said the murderer should be go free because he "heads one of the
Palestinian camps that do want peace and so this is the moment to
end his sentence". In the give-and-take of Israel's robust
democracy, Beilin's position may be deeply offensive to many
Israelis and thin on both logic and jurisprudence. But Beilin speaks
as a political activist, which means he is perfectly at liberty to
be as offensive as he chooses.
But it's an entirely different matter
for the official spokesperson of the Israeli Prison Service to
express himself in what seems to be a partisan manner.
Which brings me to my questions. Does
the Prison Service agree with you that Marwan Barghouti is a
'security prisoner'? If yes, does this entitle him to privileges to
which a mere murderer would have no right? If no, will you
immediately issue a public statement clarifying that the final
determination of Israel's criminal justice system, convicting
Barghouti of the most serious crimes, will not be undermined any
further by those responsible for running its jails?
If the global war on terror means
anything, it is essential for us to be clear about this. Barghouti
is no security prisoner. He is no more than a loathsome felon.
I await your response.
Sincerely,
Arnold Roth
www.kerenmalki.org
Father of Malka Chana Roth Z"L
-------------
The Malki
Foundation PO Box 23637 Jerusalem
91236 Israel
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