I’LAM

Media Center for Arab Palestinians in Israel

COMMUNIQUE FOREIGN MEDIA
JULY 5, 2005

Government Approves Construction Plans for Six New Jewish Towns

The Israeli government approved plans for the construction of six new Jewish towns (yishuvim) in the Galilee
and the Negev regions (Source: Ha’aretz 19 July 2005).
This decision forms part of successive government plans to “Judaize” the Galilee, which currently has an Arab
majority, and the Negev, site of 45 unrecognized Arab villages. Recently, the Israeli government requested 2.2
billion USD from the American government to put towards its plans for the development of these areas.
Since 1948, Israeli state agencies have built more than 500 Jewish towns and villages, while refusing to build
new Arab towns and villages to accommodate the natural growth of the Arab society in Israel. For example, as
recently as one month ago, the Knesset refused a proposal made by Dr. Jamal Zahalka for the construction of a
new Arab town.
It should also be noted that the Israeli state continually confiscates land from Arab municipalities and private
owners when building and developing new communities and industrial areas for use by the Jewish community,
justifying such actions in the name of “the public interest.”
Contact: I’lam Office (04) 600 1370, (04) 656 3083

Highest Unemployment Rates in Israel in Arab Communities

The Employment Office in Israel released its latest unemployment figures noting a 2.4% overall decrease in the
unemployment rate from April-May 2005 to June-July 2005. A full 39% of those unemployed in Israel are
either Arab citizens of Israel or Jewish citizens who immigrated from developing nations, such as Ethiopia.
Arab towns and villages have the highest unemployment rates, with those in the Negev accounting for some of
the highest rates; e.g. Il-Assam at 20.2%, Abu Rabie at 19.4%, and Iksafia at 17.1% (Source: www.arabs48.com
18 July 2005)
Contact: Amin Fares (04) 8699587

Special Extended Report: Sheikh Ra’ed Salah Released From Israeli Prison

“Here, in this country, which claims to be the only democracy in the Middle East, it is a crime to give a poor
Palestinian family a loaf of bread . . . they claim this amounts to aiding terror,” (Sheikh Ra’ed Salah as
reported by Al-Jazeera.net on 17 July 2005).
“I would be very happy if I could make a connection between the money and a Kalashnikof [automatic
weapon]. However, I confirm that the charges are economic,” (Miri Golan, head of the investigation team, in
a press conference on May 13, 2003 as reported by Arab Human Rights Association).

On 17 July 2005, after having spent 26-months in an Israeli detention centre, Sheikh Ra’ed Salah was finally
released from captivity.
Sheikh Salah was initially detained on 12/13 May 2003, along with 15 other Palestinian citizens of Israel picked
up during a nighttime raid conducted by 1200 Israeli police and special forces in the towns of Umm El-Fahm,
Ara’a and Faradis,

POB 101, 16000 Nazareth. Tel +972-4-600 1370, Fax. +972-4-600 1418,
Int.relations@ilamcenter.org / www.ilamcenter.org
Israeli authorities secretly briefed Hebrew media journalists, assembling them in a nearby Jewish community,
and then “embedding” them with Israeli security forces who entered Umm El-Fahm. Hebrew-language media
proceeded to depict the arrests as part of the global war on terror, with the Arab citizens of Israel playing the
role of a potential ‘fifth column’ (Source: www.arabhra.org).
Eleven of the detainees were subsequently released without any charges laid. Sheikh Salah and three others -
Mahmoud Abu Samra Mahajni and Tawfiq Abd al-Latif Mahajni, director and employee at the Institute for
Humanitarian Relief, and Nasir Khalid Aghbaria, secretary of the mayor of Umm al-Fahm, - remained in Israeli
custody. Dr. Suleiman Aghbaria, then serving mayor of Umm El-Fahm, was also arrested shortly after speaking
at a rally organized to demand the release of those detained.
On 24 June 2003, the State of Israel submitted a list of charges to the Haifa District Court accusing these five
members of the Islamic Movement, and a registered non-profit organization, with conspiracy to commit a
crime, contact with illegal foreign agents, membership in a terror organization, possession of funds aiding an
illegal movement, and money laundering.
During initial questioning, the defendants claimed they had acted in accordance with a resolution by the High
Follow-Up Committee on Arab Affairs in Israel, coordinating their aid activities through Israeli Defense Forces
(IDF) headquarters at Beit El in the West Bank. Adi Ashkenazi, a high-ranking IDF officer deployed in Beit El
in April 2003, confirmed that official army policy during the siege of Jenin was to deliver as much humanitarian
aid as possible, in order to prevent starvation and subsequent international criticism. There was, however, no
follow-up by Israeli authorities on sources and recipients of the provided assistance.
The trial began in July 2003, with the prosecution initially calling some 67 witnesses, mostly police, security
personnel and army officers. This number was increased to 167 witnesses in March 2004, and then brought
down to a total of 109 by September 2004. By the time a plea bargain was reached in January 2005, the Court
was still hearing testimony by the witnesses’ of the prosecution.
On 10 December 2004, the five defendants began a nine-day hunger strike protesting inhumane conditions that
included being shackled throughout their detention.
Also in December, Professor Rafi Israeli, called by the prosecution as an “expert witness,” testified that, “The
Arab mentality is made of ‘a sense of being a victim,’ ‘pathological anti-Semitism,’ and ‘a tendency to live in a
world of illusions,’” (Source: Ha’aretz 23 December 2004). Two legal experts from the International
Commission of Jurists Sweden (ICJ – Sweden), attorneys Birgitta Elfstroem and Arne Malmgren, commented
that, “We are afraid that the trial against these five members in the Islamic Movement is an act of war on Arabs
and Islam and also to crack down opposition parties and groups” (Source: www.arabhra.org).
A plea bargain was reached on 12 January 2005. The Haifa District Court conceded that allegations of the five
defendants’ involvement in terrorist activities could not be proven by the prosecution. In return, the defendants
pled guilty to the charges of making contact with foreign collaborators, and receiving funds and rendering
services on behalf of an illegal organization. Goods acquired from the expenditure of the illegal resources, such
as sugar, oil, medicine and clothes, were distributed in the form of humanitarian assistance in the West Bank.
The defendants maintained that the illegal status of the contact organisation was not known to them.
On 4 July 2005, Israeli Prison Authorities finalized the release date for Sheikh Ra'ed Salah for 18 July 2005. A
condition barring him from entering Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip for four months without prior
authorization from Israeli Police was added to a condition barring him from foreign travel.
Israeli authorities dropped Sheikh Salah off about 50 metres from his home in Umm El-Fahm at about 4:30am
on 17 July 2005 (Source: Jerusalem Post), frustrating plans by supporters for a rally to greet him upon his
release.
On 18 July 2005, 40,000 people attended a gathering in Um El-Fahm in honour of Sheikh Ra’ed Salah,
celebrating his freedom.

Contact: Muhammed Zeidan, Director of Arab Human Rights Association (04) 656 1923

POB 101, 16000 Nazareth. Tel +972-4-600 1370, Fax. +972-4-600 1418,
Int.relations@ilamcenter.org / www.ilamcenter.org