This Ongoing War: A Blog: 10-May-15: The Shalit transaction and fresh Palestinian Arab outrage

Sunday, May 10, 2015

10-May-15: The Shalit transaction and fresh Palestinian Arab outrage

Hamas insiders parade their hostage, Gilad Shalit, prior to the
"swap", October 2011 [Image Source]

Caveat: there's much that is wrong factually, morally and legally, in the report that follows.

But since it has gotten little media coverage since being released earlier this evening, we feel it ought to get some now, and some commentary a bit later. It comes from a news agency that is controlled by the Mahmoud Abbas/Palestinian Authority regime. (A Turkish news agency offers a slightly different take on the same facts today here.)

Israel Reinstates Imprisonment Sentences to 5 Ex-Detainees
WAFA | 10th May 2015 Time 19:06 Jerusalem

RAMALLAH, May 10, 2015 (WAFA) – The Israeli military court of Ofer on Sunday sentenced five Palestinian ex-detainees – who were released in the Gilad Shalit prisoners swap in 2011 and were rearrested in 2014 – to serve the remainder of their original sentences, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club (PPC).

The five prisoners were identified as Mahdi Assi from Nablus, Khaled Makhamreh from Hebron, Samer al-Issawi from Jerusalem, Nayef Shawamreh from Hebron and Wa’el Abu Jalboush from Jenin. Another ex-detainee; Na’el al-Bargouti, was sentenced to 30 months in jail. He was also released in 2011 prisoners swap and was re-captured by Israel last June.

In June 2014, Israel recaptured at least 50 ex-detainees who were released in the 2011 prisoners exchange deal with Hamas. These prisoners, along with hundreds others, remain held either under administrative detention - without indictment or trial - or are still awaiting military court ruling.

The arrests were made based on a 2009 military article that enables Israeli prosecutors to push for reinstating prisoners' original sentences if they commit an offence. In these cases, neither the prisoner nor the lawyer is informed of the evidence that can be used to incarcerate them again.

In 2013, a team of Palestinian lawyers petitioned Israel's high court regarding Article 186 of military order 1651, the regulation that particularly affected those released in the Shalit deal.

Addameer, a local prisoner human rights group, called it an “unjustified” act that “undermines the protection of prisoners and ex-prisoners”.

A total of 63 re-arrested prisoners went on a hunger strike in September 2014 to demand their release; however they remain behind bars until the moment as Israel refuses to discuss their situation, Israeli Haaretz daily reported.

There is remarkably little cut-and-dried information about the legal status of the terrorist prisoners freed in the catastrophic 2011 Shalit deal, and a colossal amount of mis-information. We make it our business to ask audiences some concrete questions about it almost every time we speak publicly. The answers are always, but always, disturbing because of how wrong they are.

For instance, what percentage of the Shalit deal prisoners did not receive a formal, written pardon in October 2011? Answers are welcome - comment below, or email us at thisongoingwar@gmail.com

We will be updating this post.

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