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MK Azmi Bishara denied any wrongdoing in opening statement of trial.
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| By Ellis Shuman February 27, 2002 |
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Dozens of supporters of MK Azmi Bishara (Balad) clashed this morning with security guards outside a Nazareth courtroom at the opening of the Knesset member's trial on charges of supporting terrorist organizations. Bishara claimed that he was innocent of any wrongdoing and was being persecuted for his views, after he made statements in Israel and Syria last year praising the Hizbullah and encouraging Palestinians to resist Israeli occupation.
The clashes today occurred when a group of lawyers, organized as a support committee for Bishara, was not given permission to enter the hall. In addition, the manager of an Arab language newspaper was evicted from the courtroom, ynet reported. Supporters of Bishara carried signs stating, "Israel is a terrorist state."
Also present to show support for Bishara were Knesset members Taleb a-Sana and Hashem Mahameed (United Arab List), as well as Shawki Hatib, the head of the Arab leadership's monitoring committee, and Sheikh Raid Salah, leader of the northern faction of the Islamic Movement. Leaders of Israel's Arab minority have expressed solidarity with Bishara and consider the Nazareth proceedings a "political trial." Bishara's attorney, Bishara Riyad al-Anis, said that the trial "does not represent only Azmi Bishara," but rather all Israeli Arabs.
"I think that those who planned this trial already regret what they did because they can't judge me on my political position without me arguing my political position, not without the trial becoming a platform for debate on whether opposition to the occupation is legitimate or not," Bishara said.
Bishara has claimed that though he supports the Palestinians' legitimate right to overthrow Israeli "occupation" in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, he has never suggested the use of force. The indictment against him says that Bishara expressed "verbal praise, sympathy, and encouragement for violent actions that could lead to death or injury" as well as public acts "which include identifying with a terrorist organization or expressing sympathy for it."
Charges against Bishara were originally registered with the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, but the proceedings were moved to Nazareth, Bishara's hometown, at his request. The Knesset voted to remove Bishara's immunity so that he could stand trial. The trial marks the first time a Knesset member is being prosecuted for things he said rather than did. A separate trial is underway against Bishara for arranging trips of Israeli Arabs to Syria, a country in a state of war with Israel.
Europeans show support; Arab press provides coverage
European human rights activists and parliamentarians arrived in Israel to attend the court session and offer their support for Bishara. The European delegation includes left-wing politicians Miguel Angel Martinez of Spain and Ulla Sandbaek of Denmark; as well as Michael Tuliana, president of the French Human Rights League; Yvonne Ruwida, a member of the Swedish parliament; and Norwegian MP Gunn Gjul.
Over 1,350 French citizens signed a petition calling on Israel to cancel the proceedings against Bishara. Among the signatories were journalists, diplomats, singers and human rights activists, Maariv reported. "Azmi Bishara is being punished for his ability to express democratically and non-violently the positions of Israel's Arab citizens," the petition said. The petition was organized by Simone Bitton, an Israeli woman living in France.
Debbie Lerman, an Israeli working with the European Parliament and a member of the Israel-based Coalition of Women for Peace, told the Jerusalem Post, "This is something the European Parliament should take an active role in because we are talking about the rights of Israeli Palestinians to be politically represented. Bishara has the right to make statements without having his immunity lifted."
Bishara's trial has resulted in a wave of support in Lebanon and Syria. The Lebanese Parliament established a solidarity committee with Bishara, and sent a message to the Vatican asking for the Pope's support of the Christian Knesset member, who it considered "a fighter for freedom of expression and against racism and occupation."
Universities in Lebanon declared yesterday to be "Azmi Bishara Day," Maariv reported. Demonstrations of support were held near United Nations offices in Beirut and Damascus. A special committee of 22 attorneys in Damascus said it planned to follow Bishara's trial carefully from afar. The committee demanded that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan send international observers to the proceedings in Nazareth.
Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal television station, owned by Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, began yesterday extensive coverage of Bishara's trial, Maariv reported. Newsmen interviewed Israeli Arabs and well-known figures from the Arab world. All the guests on the show denounced "Israel's racist regime" and commented on how bringing Bishara to trial showed the real character of Israel's democracy.
The station also broadcast Bitton's film, "Citizen Bishara," a documentary in Hebrew produced last year in cooperation with the French Committee for the Defense of Azmi Bishara. The film covers Bishara's parliamentary work, his electoral campaigns, and the dissemination of his ideas about citizenship and democracy and was produced during the period April 1999 to February 2001.
A Lebanese journalist specializing in Israeli affairs told ynet that the wide coverage of the trial in Syria and Lebanon was due to Bishara's high popularity there. "For many in these two countries, Bishara is a role model thought to represent not only the Palestinians, but also them," he said. He added that it was easy for the local population to identify with Bishara as an authentic representative of the Palestinian cause, when the official Palestinian leadership is neither popular nor desired in the Lebanese and Syrian media.
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