Netanyahu's Refusal to Release Palestinian Political Prisoners Seen as Attempt to Turn Them Against Wye

By Maureen Meehan

Ahmed Ibrahim Djbara is 62 years old and the father of six grown children. He has been in an Israeli prison for the past 23 years. He is serving a life sentence, as was his 72-year-old friend, Mohamad Ahmed Nai'rat. Nai'rat was among the fortunate "security prisoners" released last month as part of the Wye peace accord.

The widely reported release of 150 criminal prisoners and 100 security, or political, prisoners is beginning to be felt for what it is: a slap in the face of the Palestinian National Authority which signed the Wye peace accord with the expectation that political, not criminal, prisoners were to be set free. One of the problems is that Israel, not the PNA, decides who will be released and who will remain in prison.

At the moment, there are still some 2,500 Palestinians serving sentences in Israeli prisons for so-called "security offenses." This number does not include the several hundred administrative detainees, who are being held without trial or charges, the dozens arrested monthly for illegally entering Israel, and the hundreds jailed in facilities run by the Israel Defense Forces. The number also does not include some of the 200 East Jerusalem Palestinians and the 200 Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship, all of whom are imprisoned on political grounds. It also does not include at least 550 Palestinians serving time for criminal acts.

Among the 2,500 political prisoners, according to official Israeli information, at least 400 are serving 7 to 10 year terms; nearly 400 are serving 10 to 15 year terms; and 350 are serving 15 to 30 year terms. All the rest, close to 1,300, are serving life sentences. Many of them already have been in prison for nearly two decades.

Considering these rather staggering statistics--which change daily, usually toward the up side--and the fact for the past 30 years--more than an entire generation--tens of thousands of Palestinians have experienced Israel's infamous jails and interrogation procedures, it is no surprise that the prisoner issue is back at the forefront of the peace process, the Palestinian political scene and, more obviously, the streets of the West Bank and Gaza. It is worth noting here that yearly between 1,000 and 1,500 Palestinians are arrested and interrogated by the Shin Bet security service and that 85 percent of those arrested regularly undergo some form of torture (see the July/August 1998 Washington Report).

"There is not a single extended family in the West Bank or Gaza that does not still have a relative in prison," said Um Khaled, who was carrying a picture of her jailed son at a demonstration in support of the prisoners. "Nowhere in the world have leaders signed so many peace accords and allowed so many of their prisoners to remain stuck in jail. Can you imagine the ANC or Nelson Mandela leaving their freedom fighters behind bars while they go off and form a government?"

"The peace process was faulty from the start when there were no clear demands or provisions made to release our political prisoners immediately after the first signing in 1993," added Um Khaled. "Our husbands and sons, our fighters have ended up hostages."

After Israel released 150 common criminals, demonstrations have been ongoing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including at the opening ceremony of the Gaza International Airport. The November release was the first of a three-step plan to free a total of 750 Palestinian prisoners as part of the Wye accord.

In addition to the release of minors, the ill and the elderly, Palestinians logically expected President Yasser Arafat to secure the freedom of the mostly Fatah faction members who have been jailed since before the signing of the 1993 Oslo accord. The latter group comprises about one-fifth of the current prison population and it is the members of this group who could cause serious problems for the Wye agreement unless their situation is dealt with in a "timely and respectful fashion," says one Fatah supporter in Bethlehem.

Fatah prisoners are the longest held (average 15 to 20 years) and tend to be the political leaders inside the Israeli prisons. Since the peace accords were signed in 1993, nearly 95 percent of those arrested and sentenced have been members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or other opposition groups such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). During the negotations at Wye Plantation, Fatah prisoners sent messages to Arafat telling him they were waiting patiently but that if there is no release, "all hell will break loose," according to one prisoner.

Jaaber Mutlaq Wishah, imprisoned since 1983 and currently being held in the Nafha prison in the Negev desert, sent a personal letter to President Clinton in November. The letter was made available to the Washington Report by a lawyer working for prisoners' release.

"Mr. President, no one is more eager for peace than a soldier held in captivity. We are profoundly convinced that peace is the most important and precious goal for every nation. The battle for peace is much more difficult than waging war and destruction. But as this battle for peace is waged, the time has come to grant those who fought for the liberation of Palestine and to end the Israeli military occupation the right to build Palestinian society in the peacetime and live off the fruits of their struggle. Our release is integral to ensure peace's victory."

A close look at the Wye agreement confirms that it is not much more than a reworking of the Oslo accord in terms of the prisoner issue. As in Oslo, there were no lists of names agreed upon, no time-frames and no agreement on who should be released. The Wye accord only states that prisoners will be released, with no distinction about whether they are to be common criminals, prisoners held for short-term violations such as entering Israel without a permit, or prisoners whose release date is just around the corner.

Dismissing Palestinian outrage that 150 of the first 200 prisoners released were mostly car thieves, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he never promised to release "security prisoners" and indicated that the upcoming two releases could well be more of the same. Palestinians felt Netanyahu had gone over the top in what was clearly viewed as an attempt to humiliate and provoke the Palestinian leadership to renounce the agreement.

"Do you think President Clinton and the Palestinians worked so hard for so long on this [Wye] agreement so that Israel will release a bunch of criminals from jail?" said Allegra Pacheco, attorney for the Fatah Prisoners Club.

"It is quite clear that political prisoners, especially those held since before 1993, are going to settle down and work on the peace process," added Pacheco.

Anwar Abu Lafi, attorney at the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, said the prisoner issue, if not resolved, could seriously threaten the future of the Wye accord.

"There are at least 550 prisoners arrested before 1993 who for sure support the peace process," said Abu Lafi. "How can they continue to hold them?"

If the argument not to release them is that they have "Jewish blood on their hands," the Palestinians respond that if such a criterion were used for both sides, Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon would be in jail rather than in Netanyahu's cabinet .

In fact, during the talks in Washington, Arafat made it abundantly clear to Clinton in the presence of Netanyahu that the release of veteran pre-1993 prisoners was essential for him to sell the Wye agreement to the Palestinian people.

Israeli newspapers report that even the Shin Bet security service has recommended that Netanyahu release security prisoners, calling it essential to guarantee PNA commitment to the peace accord and to stave off what many fear may be a rupture in the ranks of Arafat's traditional Fatah supporters.

The longer the hopes for release of the original Fatah political prisoners are frustrated, the greater the danger that they may join those who disagree with many of the terms of the peace accords.

"Netanyahu is treading on sensitive ground, he's pressuring Arafat and embarrassing him in front of his people who are already dissatisfied," said Husam Khader, Palestinian Legislative Council member from Nablus. The prisoner issue could de-stabilize the whole game here.

"Bibi wants the Palestinians to protest--which we are--and reject the accords, which many do, so then he can dump them all together--which he wants to do.

"That's enough incentive right there for Netanyahu to refuse to release the prisoners," concluded Khader.

Maureen Meehan is a free-lance journalist who covers the West Bank and Jerusalem.