Negev village leader to begin 10-month jail-term on Christmas Day

Sheikh Sayah Abu Madhi’m Al-Turi, a “leader in the fight for land” in so-called unrecognised village Al-Araqeeb, will be jailed by Israeli authorities on 25 December, reported Negev Coexistence Forum.

In what the Forum described as “an outrageous decision”, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected Sheikh Sayah’s request for an appeal, and will thus begin a ten-month jail-term on Christmas Day.

In December 2017, the Be’er Sheva Magistrates Court “convicted Sheikh Sayah of 19 counts of trespassing, 19 counts of unlawful entry into public land and one count of breach of law”. He was sentenced to ten months in prison, five months’ probation and a 36,000 shekel fine ($9,100), the Forum added.

Sayah appealed the decision, which was denied. A motion for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court was filed, and the motion was denied by the Supreme Court yesterday.

‘I became an invader in my own land’ — a Palestinian Bedouin’s struggle

Sayah, 69, was born in the village in 1949. “He was married in the village and had his children and grandchildren there,” the Forum added.

The village was destroyed by Israeli authorities in 2010 “and has since been destroyed each and every month, including Ramadan. As of October 2018, the village had been demolished 135 times”.

Two of Sayah’s sons are on trial for similar offenses, said the Forum. “The criminalisation of Sayah’s living on the land and the findings that these offenses carry prison sentences effectively criminalise dozens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Bedouin citizens with similar status in the land.”

Israel demolishes Al-Araqeeb Village – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]