Pidion Shvuim Alert: No. 17

[Robert]

Pidion Shvuim Alert:
No. 17
Halamish Brothers Petition Supreme Court Against President Peres
    The two Jewish security guards, imprisoned for shooting in the
air to
disperse a group of Bedouins who had infiltrated their community, have
petitioned the president to decide immediately on their request for a
pardon.
    Over two months ago, the Justice Ministry approved the pardon
request
for Dan and Yitzhak Halamish, two brothers sentenced to seven and eight
months respectively and sent the request to the office of President
Shimon
Peres.
    On June 1, the president's office sent a letter to attorney
Dov Even-Or
confirming that the pardon request had reached an advanced stage.
    "Your clients' request is being dealt with in the advanced
stages,"
presidential aide on pardons, Ms. Talia Sukari-Lina, said.
    Even-Or said his petition includes a request that the
president be
forced to answer all pardon requests within 30 days.
    "50 days have passed since this letter [from the president],"
Even-Or
said, "and still the president hasn't announced his decision."
    In his petition, Even-Or stressed that the president should be
limited
to 90 days and if he still hasn't decided, the pardon should be
automatically approved, especially in the case of the Halamish
brothers who have spent two months in jail and paid a court-imposed
fine of $2,353 [8,000 shekels] to the Bedouins.
    "The request from the petitioners for a pardon was presented
in March,"
Even-Or said. "It's not reasonable that that they are sitting in jail
while
the president struggles with a decision on their request."
    On May 4, Supreme Court Judge Salim Jubran rejected the
previous appeal
by the Halamish brothers to postpone judicial proceedings until the
president considered their application for a pardon and ordered them
immediately to jail on May 5. Jubran is the same judge who rejected
their
original right to appeal the conviction. The Supreme Court then extended
the
beginning of the sentence to May 20.
    The brothers appealed to the Supreme Court after the
president's office
advised the brothers to apply for a stay of proceedings, granted to a
third
defendant, Baruch Feldbaum.
    The Halamish brothers, as part of their reserve military
service, were
members of a security response team organized, equipped and trained by
the
Israeli Army to help protect their community and surrounding region from
Arab attack. On Feb. 21, 2004, the brothers were summoned by another
security officer, Feldbaum, to help expel Bedouins who trespassed into
the
Jewish community of Sdei Bar and were encamped near a student dormitory.
Bedouin tribes in the area had been deemed responsible for the killing
of
several Jews in the area in previous years.
    Under the direction of Feldbaum, the Halamish brothers ordered
the
bedouin squatters to leave. The Bedouins refused, and about 20 of them
approached the Jewish security officers with sticks and rocks. Feldbaum
shot
toward the ground when the Bedouins continued to move closer.
    The response team later said that it shot in self-defense. An
army medic
who arrived at the scene determined that nobody was struck by the
gunfire,
an assertion disputed by the Bedouins.
    At that point, the military abandoned its own security team
and allowed
a police investigation. Although police refused to conduct ballistic
tests
or even a lineup of suspects, the brothers were convicted of shooting
toward
the Bedouins. Dan was sentenced to seven months in prison; Yitzhak, to
eight
months.
    An Israeli appeals court said ballistic tests or a lineup
weren't
necessary. The word of the Bedouins -- who refused to show up to police
headquarters to identify their purported assailants -- was enough.
    The court also rejected a recommendation by the probation
officer for
community service. The three-judge panel said it wanted the Halamish
brothers to go to jail to serve as a lesson to others.
     As a first step, we request that you telephone -- rather
than e-mail --
the Israeli Embassy or the Israeli consulate nearest you and demand to
know
why the Halamish brother are still in prison.
    The embassy's phone number is 202-364-5500.
Stress, that as an American citizen, you can ask the State Department to
investigate what you feel is clearly a human rights violation.
    Now, we are asking you to call your member of Congress and
raise the
issue of Dan and Yitzhak Halamish. We also ask you to call the
State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and
inform them of the brothers and demand an investigation. Tell the
department officer you have also raised  these cases with your member
of
Congress. The State Department's main numbers are 202-647-4000 or
1-800-877-8339.
    The Olmert government, with an approval rating of near zero,
has refused
any accountability to the Israeli people and fears only the Bush
administration. Unless we act now, there will be many more Dani and
Itziks
in jail.
    If you agree with this, please act quickly.
With Love of Israel,
Datya Itzhak

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the
Jewish G*D, and hate the Jew! ~ Francis A. Schaeffer