In the Maws of Israeli Justice – A First Hand Report
The court is in the police station,
That’s the first clue,
A building constructed by the British
To help contain the Arab population
Before the modern Israeli Era.
That purpose has not changed.
The judge is wearing an army uniform,
That is your second clue,
Something that suggests the outcome is foreordained.
You do not need any other clues.
But if this message is unclear
Or too nuanced
Please note that the translator is wearing an army uniform
The court reporter is wearing an army uniform
And the half dozen armed soldiers in the courtroom are wearing army uniforms.
Only the prosecuting attorney is out of uniform,
But he is still sneeringly self-assured,
For he too knows the outcome of this case,
As do the soldiers,
The court reporter,
And the prisoner,
Who has been denied access to his lawyer
for over three months.
Everyone knows the outcome,
Guaranteed and assured by hand and ankle cuffs,
By automatic weapons,
By nuclear weapons,
By the overwhelming power of the state.
The prosecutor speaks first.
He says the prisoner is suspected
Of being a member, or associate, or backer,
follower, fan, devotee, adherent, sympathizer,
organizer, sycophant, protégé, or operative,
Maybe.
Or perhaps being in the known presence
Of someone, or some organization,
Perhaps the political party that won the popular election,
Perhaps he is seditious
Perhaps a supporter of terrorism by the starving oppressed
Perhaps he holds positions antithetical to the government’s.
Besides, free speech and free association are not assured
Nor is the free exchange of ideas assured
And although no formal charges have yet been brought
And none are known to exist
Not to the defense
Not to the prisoner
Not to his lawyer
Not even to the judge
We are conducting an investigation,
Says the prosecutor,
And the investigation is not complete
And we need more time
Because during the time we had the prisoner
Chained and interrogated twenty one hours a day
For six straight days –
We rested on the seventh –
And he was a most cooperative prisoner
Our prisoner
But we learned nothing
So the investigation must continue
And we need him in prison to do so
And an extension of his detention is needed
Away from his family and young children
Away from his students and his neighbors
Just like the hundreds of others we arrested and detained this week
Or was it last week, or the week before that,
On suspicion of being Palestinian.
The prisoner is allowed to speak
May it please the Court, the prosecutor,
The members of the army here today
And others in the courtroom, he says.
I am professor of law Hassan A. Gassan.
There are six Hassan Gassan’s at my university.
How does the prosecution even know
It was I, this Hassan Gassan, who was meant to be arrested?
That it was me intended to be dragged from his home
At two A.M.
My wife and children made to wait in the cold
My home searched without a warrant.
I have told the investigators everything I know,
Answered every question they have asked.
I know nothing more than the investigators now know,
Do not even know what the charges against me are
Or what separates me from my two month old daughter,
My son, my anxious wife
Other than the arbitrary power of the state.
Thank you.
Yes, yes, says the judge, tired of this tedium,
And who are these other people in the court with you,
It is unusual for anyone to attend these proceedings
Because the families of Palestinian prisoners
Are not permitted into Israel courts
And why would anyone else care?
Perhaps they will identify themselves.
We are Israeli friends of the prisoner and his family, we say,
We are international peace activists,
Educators, lawyers,
We are observers,
We are here to see how justice will be rendered in this case.
Very impressive, says the judge,
And most unusual.
That said, the ruling of this court
Is that the government’s request for an extension of detention
Is completely reasonable in this case and hereby granted.
It is really that brusque, that arbitrary
And that final
Again and again
For Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli courts of justice
In the democratic Israeli state.
© Feb, 2008
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