RSS Feeds

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,    but because of the people who don't do anything about it

Occupation magazine - Life under occupation Home page  back Print  Send To friend The Details on the Arrest of Sausan and Amal From the South Mt. Hebron Village Umm Faqara The Villages Group Dec 5 Dear Friends and Supporters We concluded our report of the demolitions and of the orders issued to stop construction at Umm Faqara and Susiya (23-24.11.11) with initial details about the arrests of Sausan Hamamdeh (21-years old) and Amal Hamamdeh (17-years old) at the house demolitions at Umm Faqara. In the past days we have met with Amal and spoke on the phone with Sausan and with the two young women’s lawyer – Neri Haramati, of Gaby Lasky’s law firm. Amal and Rasha (Sausan’s sister) gave us a detailed account of the arrest: during the demolition Sausan was stressed, realizing her home was about to be demolished without the women of the family having a chance to remove its contents (according to the present Israeli procedure of house demolitions, the removal of the house contents is carried out by a contractor’s firm hired for this purpose (See a report by journalist Amira Hass on the subject: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/israeli-demolition-firm-takes-pride-in-west-bank-operations-1.398157) Sausan and Amal were then taken by army jeep to the Kiryat Arba police station. During the ride one of the soldiers in the jeep tried to sexually harass Amal and also kicked her in the belly. After the interrogation at the Kiryat Arba police station, Sausan and Amal were driven to Jerusalem where they were placed in detention at the “Russian Compound” detention center. Conditions at the facility (which they shared with another inmate) were very severe – it is very cold in Jerusalem these days and the room had an air conditioner that was cooling rather than heating the place. Repeated requests by the women to turn it off were refused by their jailers. Amal’s arrest in this room lasted five days, whereas Sausan spent a whole week there (she said it felt like a year). The two young women were released under bail and are awaiting the first court proceedings in their case that are supposed to take place this month (Sausan’s on December 19th, Amal’s on the 21st). In Amal’s case the military prosecution has yet to present a charge sheet. The soldier who got wet from the bottled water has already recovered and there is a certain – albeit not too great – hope that the military prosecution will rescind and not press charges in this case. In Sausan’s case, on the other hand, a charge sheet has been lodged, accusing her of assaulting a soldier and lifting a stone against him. Sausan has pleaded guilty and her lawyer is discussing a plea bargain with the military prosecution (according to statistics publicized last week, 996 out of every 1000 charge sheets against Palestinians at Israeli Military courts end up in indictments, where the vast majority of the cases plea bargains are concluded).The lawyer more optimistically predicts that Sausan’s plea bargain will end up with a suspended prison sentence and a fine. The arrest of Sausan and Amal of Um Fakara is an especially serious event even considering the harsh standards of the South Hebron Hills. In the decade of our own activity in this area we have never encountered an arrest of women. We know Neri Haramati, the lawyer handling Sausan and Amal’s case, is a gifted and skillful attorney. Still, he is a lawyer privately employed by a law firm and his fee is not covered by any public body – the families of the two young women are directly burdened with this. In addition, there will soon be the matter of the anticipated fine (the exact amount is yet unknown). Therefore we appeal to you to help these families. When many give a hand with even a modest donation, the people in need receive the proper help. Any of you interested in contributing for this cause, please mail your donation per check made out to The Villages Group, posted to Ehud Krinis, Kibbutz Shoval, D.N. Negev, Israel 85320, or by bank transfer to the account of the Villages Group, at Bank Bank Leumi, Bank Identification Code: LUMIILITXXX, Routing Code: IL010985, Account Number: 98508670082, IBAN Number: IL 67010985-000000-8670082, Bank Address: Kiryat Malachi, Ben-Gurion St. Rashi Corner 83036 Israel. rh Links to the latest articles in this section Occupation forces injure mourners following funeral of slain infant Mohammad Tamimi Nabi Saleh village assaulted - toddler shot in the head died in hospital Palestinians in the snow: thrown from home into the snow, throw snowballs and get arrested