The case of Israeli activist Ezra Nawi is now decided; he will go to jail simply for defending Palestinians in the West Bank:
The Jerusalem Magistrate Court on Wednesday sentenced left-wing activist Ezra Nawi to one month in prison, after convicting him of assaulting police officers during the 2007 evacuation of illegal Palestinian caravans in the southern Hebron Hills.
“Ideology is ideology, but this trial is not about ideology,” said Judge Eilata Ziskind. “Wild behavior from the right or the left is inconceivable, even if the goal is to help the weak. Without order, there can be no democracy.”
Justice Ziskind described repeated instances in which Nawi threatened police or prevented them from carrying out their activities.
Nawi will serve an additional six months if he participates in similar activities during the next three years, and he was also ordered to pay a fine of NIS 750,000 along with an additional NIS 500 to each officer he assaulted.
Nawi accused the court of authorizing the occupation of Palestinian land for years and said that the court has long been trying to neutralize and silence him. “The punishment doesn’t scare me,” Nawi said.