Israel condemned by NUJ for treatment of independent journalist, Ewa Jasiewicz

Journalist Ewa Jasciewicz now held in detention for over 14 days as Israeli court fiasco continues.

Ewa’s lawyer Yael Barda is currently trying to get the court protocols translated from Hebrew into English including the court interrogation of the secret service official. The next court decision will be heard on Wednesday at 08.30 Israeli time, following 14 days of Ewa being held in detention.

Ewa’s appeal was made on technical grounds, as the Supreme Court judges didn’t hear the case or the secret information.

The secret information was only seen by the first judge, at the district court hearing, who ruled that Ewa was no threat to Israeli security.

During the interrogation of the secret service official, who testified from behind a curtain, and entered court with his head covered, Yael Barda questioned him about allegations that activists drive Palestinians around in cars during curfews, and asked him what Ewa’s connection to this was, he replied that he could only show the judge. Ewa doesn’t have a driver’s license and cannot drive.

Yael Barda went on to ask about Israeli activists being interrogated for protesting against the separation wall, the secret service official claimed he knew nothing about these interrogations. Lawyer Yael Barda personally knows of a journalist and copywriter that has been interrogated by this specific official, and points out that the official has directly lied to the court.

For the appeal at the Supreme Court on Wednesday Yael Barda has called for Avigdor Feldman to represent Ewa. She says “he is one of the greatest human rights and criminal lawyers. I believe he will help out for a modest fee ($1000)”

She goes on to say that only public and press pressure will effect the judge’s decisions. She told the court, “that if the secret service decide which journalists enter Israel, then foreign journalists will fear for their jobs and write in accordance will official positions, if not immediately, than as time goes by.”

As Ewa, herself, recognises:

"I'm a witness to Israeli war crimes, one being an extra judicial killing of Baha Al Bahesh [see image], a 14 year old boy from Nablus who was shot 2 years ago. He was unarmed, in a non combat, non public order situation. I also witnessed other violations of the Geneva convention such as collective punishment, the demolition of houses and wanton destruction of people's livelihoods... Democracy needs a plurality of opinion, a plurality of positions and voices. Attempts to homogenise public opinion or to constrict political expression sows the seeds of dictatorship. When what can be said or read is decided by and censored by the state and where the dominant narrative becomes that which serves those in power and their vision and their opinions, not only profoundly dillusional and totally anti democratic, but is destructive to any society."

Ewa landed at Tel Aviv airport last Wednesday and was immediately detained by the authorities, who claim she is a political activist and that her reporting would not be objective. She was interrogated by Defence Ministry Officials for seven hours and they then told her she would be deported on Sunday morning, but she decided to appeal against this. She is now being detained in prison pending an appeal hearing.

NUJ Freelance Organiser John Toner said: “Ewa Jasiewicz is a bona fide journalist who has travelled to Israeli to research a story. She holds an NUJ Press Card and an IFJ International Press Card, and it is outrageous that she should be treated in this way. It is not acceptable that a supposedly democratic country should refuse entry to a journalist because they find her work objectionable. This amounts to state censorship, and we call on the UK Government to intervene."

Ewa Jasiewicz, who is currently a correspondent for the British left-wing magazine Red Pepper, has written widely before about her experiences in the Middle East including writing for Indymedia-UK. She also went on a speaking tour earlier this year following her return from Iraq.