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Yitzhak, Oriyah and Shalhevet Pass. (Hebron Jewish community)
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| By Ellis Shuman July 20, 2003 |
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Hebron residents Yitzhak Pass and Matityahu Shvu were arrested on Thursday and are suspected of "security crimes" against Palestinians, media sources reported. The two are being denied access to their lawyer and a Jerusalem court imposed a gag order preventing publication of details of the case. In March 2001, Pass's ten month-old daughter Shalhevet was murdered by a Palestinian sniper in Hebron.
Attorney Naftali Wertzberger has not been allowed to meet with Pass and Shvu and doesn't know what the two have been charged with. "Yitzhak Pass is undergoing a difficult interrogation by the Shin Bet (security service), and they are not allowing him to sleep," Wertzberger said.
The two men reportedly launched a hunger strike Sunday morning to protest the conditions of their incarceration.
On Friday, Jerusalem Magistrate's Court extended Pass's remand by six days and Shvu's, who is Pass's brother-in-law, by eight. The court acceded to Wertzberger's appeal that the two men, who are religious Jews, be allowed to sleep and pray on Shabbat and that their Shin Bet questioning be delayed until Sunday.
According to media reports, Pass and Shvu are suspected of involvement in "security crimes against Palestinians." The murder of Pass's daughter sparked an international storm and is used as a rallying cry for revenge attacks against Palestinians, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Security sources said today that they believe there are a number of Jewish terror cells operating in the territories that specialize in shooting attacks and the deployment of explosives at Palestinian targets. In the last two years, seven Palestinians have been killed and nearly twenty people have been wounded in these attacks.
One of the groups reportedly behind the attacks on Palestinians identified itself as the Shalhevet Brigade.
Security officials said they had difficulties investigating Jewish suspects and that in many cases, the suspects retained the right of silence and refused to cooperate, Israel Radio reported.
A "Kafkaesque situation"
"This is a Kafkaesque situation," Wertzberger told Army Radio this morning. "The only thing that their families know is that they've been arrested."
"The Shin Bet and the State Attorney's Office have been known to bring trumped-up charges against residents of Judea and Samaria," said Hebron community spokesman David Wilder. "It would not be a surprise if we are again facing another round of 'witch hunt' in keeping with the 'road map' leading to hell," he said.
Pass is reportedly an active member of the outlawed Kach movement and has been arrested twice on suspicion of attacking Israeli policemen.
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