Faduah Barghouti under the picture of Marwan, with Rachel and Uri Avnery

Gush Shalom (the Israeli Pace Bloc) and its members Uri Avnery, Rachel Avnery, Teddy Katz and Adam Keller appealed to the Supreme Court against the Prison Authority which prevents them from visiting the imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti. In the appeal lodged by Adv. Gaby Laski it is stated that some of them know Barghouti for years and are his personal friends, and in September they met with Mrs Fadwa Barghouti and were told by her that her husband wants to meet them.

The prison authorities refused the request, arguing that according to their rules “security” prisoners can only meet with first grade family members and with lawyers, Knesset Members and the Red Cross.

In the appeal it is stated that Gush Shalom is registered as an Association (Amuta) with the stated purpose of promoting peace between the State of Israel and the Palestinian People and an end to the occupation, and that a meeting with Marwan Barghouti could contribute to the furthering of dialogue between the peoples with the active involvement of the civil society of the two sides, thus helping to reach the end of the conflict and the achievement of peace, based on the creation of a viable Palestinian state side by side with Israel: “The visit is aimed at promoting a major public interest, an interest which the authorities did not at all take into consideration when rejecting the request".

It is well known that Marwan Barghouti is not an ordinary prisoner. He is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, who also in prison continues to have a significant role in the Palestinian leadership and the Fatah Party leadership. He was in close contact with Israeli peace groups and organizations, including the appellants, and in the Israeli political system there were many calls for his release.

Moreover, on numerous occasions the state authorities already allowed the Palestinian friends and political associates of Barghouti to visit him, among them Muhammad Dahlan, Fares Kadura and the present Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad. Also TV crews of the Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya networks conducted interviews with him in prison, a far more sensitive issue than an ordinary visit. Also many Knesset Members met with him, among them Haim Oron, Amir Peretz, Nadia Hilu and the entire Knesset Interior Affairs Committee. The prohibition of a meeting with Gush Shalom is clearly illogical and unjustified.

Beyond the direct issue of Barghouti, Gush Shalom asked the court to rule illegal article 15A(3) of the Prison Service Regulations, which imposes severe restrictions on the right of security prisoners to receive visitors. As the appellants state, under the law prisoners are allowed to receive visits from friends as well as family members, and the law makes in this respect no distinction between criminal prisoners and security prisoners. As Gush Shalom says, the Prison Authority has no power to impose such a severe restriction on thousands of prisoners; therefore, this regulation should be rescinded, and Barghouti like any other prisoner should be allowed to get the visit of friends.

Contact: adam@gush-shalom.org