Sunday, January 30, 2005

pat interrogated by shin bet

the last time i saw pat was in the faisal, a small, inexpensive flat with dorm beds in palestinian jerusalem. he was drinking tea, and, as usual, involved in some sort of negotiation over work for ism's media production, carrying two cell phones and a computer full of reports, press releases. all attempts to do what ism sets out to do, and what is impossible to accomplish: give voice to the oppressed as a means of forcing policy change.

pat is a soft spoken guy. his testimony of detention, interrogation and subsequent imprisonment is shocking only because it comes from him. power has served its self-destructive purpose with patrick; a 'political', his message is too close to the truth and must be criminalized, fear-inspiring, traitorous. the shin bet (israeli internal 'intelligence') believes him to be a terrorist. he is getting in the way.

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My Interview with the Shin Bet (Patrick O'Connor)

Recently the Israeli authorities have begun searching for and
arresting experienced ISM and international activists. My arrest and
attempted deportation is another example of this. Evidently the
Israeli authorities find nonviolent resistance and active support of
Palestinian rights to be threatening. Despite claims to the contrary,
they have adopted an unstated goal of breaking down and eliminating
the ISM and other groups using nonviolence to support Palestinian rights.

During the past three years over 100 ISMers have been denied entry and
62 deported. At the same time Israeli authorities have launched a
propaganda campaign against ISM and other activists, with attempts to
falsely link them with terrorism. My recent interrogation by the Shin
Bet shed some light on the tactics.

On the morning of January 25th I was taken from a Ben Gurion airport
detention center to Maasiyahu prison in Ramle. I was put in a 20 foot
by 10 foot cell with six other men served with deportation orders.
After a few hours I was called from my cell without explanation. My
legs were cuffed together and I was led out of my section to another
building. I was taken into a room with two men in plainclothes. They
closed the door, searched me thoroughly, and then set me down with the
leg cuffs still on.

The two men were fit, had short hair and sport shirts - typical Shin
Bet agents. Only one spoke, the other observed. He began by saying
he's from the Shin Bet (Israeli domestic security services, or GSS),
and he asked me if I knew why the Shin Bet was interested in the ISM.
I answered that their interest was misplaced because the ISM supports
nonviolent Palestinian resistance, and there should be no reason for
Israel to oppose that. He laughed and said that the Palestinians might
be nonviolent by day and violent by night.

Then he started on the internationals, mentioning two incidents from
2003 that have been badly distorted and are often used by Israeli
authorities to slander the ISM. He brought up the arrest of a "wanted"
man in the ISM apartment in Jenin and the two British suicide bombers,
people who had absolutely no connection with the ISM. He didn't seem
interested in listening to my response (for details on these two
incidents see www.palsolidarity.org at the frequently asked questions
sections).

Instead he had read my affidavit to the court in 2003 from my appeal
of my denied entry, and he claimed it said that I had participated in
violent demonstrations. I responded that he had misread my affidavit,
because it said clearly that I have participated in peaceful
demonstrations that had been met with violence by the Israeli
military. I also told him that if the "secret evidence" against me
were revealed, it would not stand up to scrutiny.

He asked me if I had ever carried correspondence for "wanted men,"
helped wanted men to move about or given my passport for someone else
to use. He asked if I had ever hit a soldier or thrown stones. He
asked if I had ever received weapons or arms training. I answered with
indignant no's, saying I was a nonviolent activist. He said "maybe you
are a real peace activist but can you guarantee that others are?" I
told him that ISM requires all activists to commit to using only
nonviolent means.

He asked me for names of Palestinians working with the ISM. I told him
that I was sure he had other sources of information and that I would
not give him any information. He also asked me if I was familiar with
Israeli peace activist Tali Fahima (jailed and accused of being in
contact with "wanted" men from Jenin) and whether I had met Zakaria
Zbedi (The head of El Aqsa brigades in Jenin). I said, "While I have
heard of both, I have met neither." The interview ended and I was
returned shackled to my cell.

There are issues I was afraid to discuss frankly during my
interrogation - issues relating to Israeli violence, Israeli double
standards, international law and the arrest of Tali Fahima. The Shin
Bet agents are in a position of power over me as I sit in an Israeli
prison. I know they may distort and manipulate things I say to punish
me and achieve their goal of damaging the ISM. However, the inequality
of power and threat of punishment is far less for me than it is for a
Palestinian who goes through interrogation. I have governments, which
will support me and prevent the worst abuses. I can afford a good
lawyer, who I will be given access to. I have a strong support group
and access to the media. I will also leave here and will not continue
to live under Israeli control.

Over and over again we have seen that the international community will
not protect Palestinians from Israeli abuses. They can be imprisoned
arbitrarily and tortured. They are often denied access to lawyers,
their homes, lands and their jobs. Freedom of movement can be taken
away, and their families threatened with the same punishments. The
media will not cover their story. Nor do Palestinians have an option
to escape Israeli domination. Power and threats mean that the Shin Bet
interrogation of a Palestinian will only produce incomplete and
twisted information.

What disturbed me most about my interrogation with the Shin Bet agent,
was his seeming certainty about his information. Not only do the
Israeli authorities produce propaganda about the Occupation and about
the ISM, but some of them appear to believe it themselves. The Shin
Bet also seems to aim to intimidate by giving the appearance of being
all knowing, but their "intelligence" is obviously badly flawed.
Israeli intelligence is generated from collaborators, surveillance and
interrogation. It serves the corrupt and corrupting goals of continued
military occupation, land seizure, domination and manipulation.

Israeli intelligence treats all forms of opposition as threats to be
eliminated. It labels all Palestinians as terrorists and all Israelis
and internationals who work with them as collaborators with terrorism.
This produces a distorted characterization of Palestinian society,
lacking direct experience with real life Palestinians and failing to
understand Palestinians as people with rights and aspirations.

The Shin Bet agent called me naive, but I think he is naive since he
believes he can understand Palestinian society from a position of
domination and inequality, and use that understanding to control and
manipulate Palestinians, and eliminate all opposition to the Occupation.

1 comment:

m said...

Thank you for your blogging efforts.

Be well.