Israel : Leading Communist Party member MK Barakeh again in court

MK Dov Khenin testified in defense of fellow Hadash chairman MK Muhammad Barakeh on Sunday in the trial against him over two separate alleged altercations, one during a 2005 demonstration in Bil’in (a Palestinian village in the occupied territories) and another in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square in 2006 against the war in Lebanon. The two charges relate to allegations that Barakeh tried to help a Palestinian – arrested during a 2005 Bil’in protest – break out of custody ; and that he struck a counter-protester who was verbally accosting another demonstrator, the veteran peace activist Uri Avnery, at Rabin Square in 2006.
In his testimony, Khenin said the idea that Barakeh would have hit anyone was "science fiction." Khenin also said, "We don’t want violence or arrests so that people will see the protests on the websites or TV, and will want to come." He said that most "demonstrators don’t know their rights, and they and police [get] very angry, and police just dislike disruptions." Presenting a quote from Karl Marx as encapsulating the essence of active participation in democracy, he said that "freedom of human beings will be by their own hand or won’t be at all."
Khenin added that for him, part of being a communist activist in the anti-occupation and class opposition was regularly attending protests. When Khenin was asked if it was prohibited to demonstrate in a closed military area in the Palestinian occupied territories, he responded "your question shows you’ve never been in a protest and I invite you to come and demonstrate with us against occupation." He continued, saying : "What is a military closed area ? Protests start from the inside of a Palestinian village and they move to its outskirts. I don’t know what or where a closed military area is." He added that if he saw an Israeli or Palestinian protester being illegally attacked by police or military forces, he would see it as his duty to stop it as an MK and a citizen. Barakeh himself testified in the case last month, signaling the start of the defense’s presentation of its case.
Originally, the MK was accused of four separate charges, but the other two charges – which involved forms of expression, including alleged verbal sparring with police – were dropped in October 2011 based on his immunity for voicing dissent as a Knesset member. Following that decision, the court ruled in November that Barakeh would be brought to trial on the other two charges as they did not fall under the immunities granted to a Knesset member. Barakeh accused the prosecution of negligence in filing the action against him. "This is a political crusade, [and] we will overcome it," he said prior to the start of the proceedings, adding that it is “incumbent on all of us to actualize our rights to protest and speak out against the destructive policies of the government." Barakeh has been a member of the Knesset since 1999 and he was reelected last Tuesday.
The Communist Party of Israel charged that it had evidence proving that during the Bil’in protest it was the military occupation forces dressed as Arabs who attacked the demonstrators, including Barakeh, and used tear gas and shock grenades against them. Barakeh complained to the Justice Ministry’s Police Investigation Department about their behavior but the department did not investigate the complaint. The Communist Party said that the indictment was politically motivated and that it wanted to criminalize purely political and legitimate protest against war and occupation and to sully Barakeh’s reputation.

(24 janvier 2013 - Communist Party of Israel)