GAZA
CITY, June 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Taking the Israeli
prosecution and judges by surprise, Marwan Barghuthi, the Fatah chief
for the West Bank, quoted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his own
defense before the court on Monday, June 2.
"How
can you take us to court for our struggle against occupation when even
your prime minister recognizes its evil deeds?" Agence France
Presse (AFP) quoted Barghuthi as asking the judges, referring to
Sharon’s acknowledgment made last week that Israel could not go on
inflicting an “occupation regime” on 3.5 million Palestinians.
Following
an outcry from Sharon’s right-wing supporters, the prime minister
revised his words and stressed the appropriate term was "the
disputed territories".
Barghuti
demanded the Israeli government "apologize for the 36 years of
occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories which the
Jewish state seized in the 1967 Middle East war.
Barghuti
reiterated his rejection of the court's right to try him and the judges
gave the 43-year-old until July 14 to decide if he wanted to be heard as
a witness or find other witnesses for his defense.
Shortly
after Monday's hearing, Israel extended for three months a ban on
Barghuti receiving visitors, alleging he was abusing the right "to
organize terror activity from his prison cell".
"The
period in which Marwan Barghuthi is to be denied visitation rights is to
be extended for three months," said a statement issued by the
office of Public Security Minister Tsahi Hanegbi.
"The
ruling was made after evidence that he continued to organize terror
activity from his prison cell came to light," it said.
The
court session also heard the last two witnesses of the prosecution in
the nine-month-old trial: a policeman and an agent of the Shin Beth
internal security services, who spoke behind closed doors.
Israel
perceives Barghuthi as the inspiration behind the 32-month-old
Palestinian Intifada and accuses him of “heading a terrorist
organization” and charged with 26 counts of murder.
Israel
Frees Palestinian Leader
Meanwhile,
Israel released late Monday Taysir Khaled, one of the most prominent and
longest-serving Palestinian prisoners, in what is seen as a measure to
ease tensions and help kick-start the dormant Mideast peace process,
Aljazeera reported.
Khaled,
a member of the leadership of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (DFLP), was arrested six months ago by Israeli troops in
Nablus in the northern West Bank.
He
is considered Israel's most important Palestinian prisoner after Member
of Parliament Barghuti.
“Of
course I am happy to return to my people after years and years of unfair
detention, but it is breaking my heart to see the Israeli aggression and
barbaric crimes go non-stop,” Khaled told the Qatar-based channel.
On
Friday, May 30, Sharon’s office said that Khaled and Ahmad Jabarra Abu
Sukkar, 69, a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah
movement, would be freed soon.
