Translated from the original Hebrew by George Malent.

Today, 21 August 2008, there was a hearing on the prolongation of the detention of Ibrahim Amira, a leader of the non-violent struggle against the Separation Fence in Ni'lin. He is a member of the village's Popular Committee and was an unofficial spokesman of the village who has appeared in the Israeli and international media. About three weeks ago he Ibrahim was arrested in an 'intimidation arrest' in the dead of night. They told him that they knew that he was being interviewed in the media and that it would be in his interest to stop. After a few hours he was released unconditionally.

Ibrahim was not deterred by the 'intimidation arrest' and continued his non-violent activities in demonstrations against the Fence.

Apparently because of that, it was decided to arrest him again on 14 August 2008, again in the dead of night, but this time he was directly taken to be questioned by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) in the Russian Compound. On 17 August 2008 he was issued with an order preventing him from meeting with a lawyer. For that reason the hearing on extending his detention today was divided into two parts. In the first part the lawyer Gabi Lasky appeared.

She had to manage like a blind person in a smokestack before an interrogator and a judge who knew everything, who were in possession of the secret material from the interrogation that had to be kept meticulously secret, except that here and there they volunteered to her scraps of hidden information about suspicion of throwing stones, and even Molotov cocktails. To that the attorney replied that Ibrahim had a permit to enter Israel, that was still valid on the day he was arrested, which indicates that he had passed all the security checks, and which refutes all the suspicions indicated in the ISA's secret report. On that basis she requested his immediate release, or a substantial reduction of his period of detention.

The interrogator, who is a policeman, but who for all practical purposes represents the ISA, and not the police department, and indeed it was emphasized during the hearing that Ibrahim continued to be investigated by the ISA and had not yet given his version to the police, requested an 18-day remand in detention in line with the requirements of the investigation.

We left the hearing room so that Ibrahim Amira could take his place in a separate hearing, without the presence of his lawyer. We saw him sitting in the corridor, waiting his turn, his hair streaked with silver (in his forties, it's hard to imagine him throwing a Molotov cocktail) his hands and feet shackled and wearing huge glasses that covered half his face.

The guard helped Ibrahim get up, and led him as he hobbled, blind, in the corridor, seen but not seeing. At the entrance to the room the guard removed the glasses and immediately pushed him in before he could exchange a glance with us. I do not know if or what he could hear. I do not know how long he had been sitting there waiting, but mainly I do not know if his strength will hold out, if he will return to his village the same Ibrahim, or if his spirit will be broken. What is as clear as day is the fact that by means of him the Israeli security establishment - in the name of all Israeli society - wants not to break, not to repress - but to completely extirpate all traces a desperate human struggle for life, as if it had never existed. And ignorance of the details does not excuse Israeli citizens from responsibility.

The judge extended his remand for 8 days.

This report was republished with permission from Occupation Magazine.

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