Persecuted for Protesting against the War on Gaza: The Cases of Muhammad Jabareen and Ahmed Khalefa - Human Rights Defenders in Prolonged Detention and Indicted for Incitement in Israel
On 19 October, 2023, Israeli police arrested Muhammad Jabareen and Ahmed Khalefa, Palestinian citizens of Israel (PCI), in Umm al-Fahem, an Arab town in the center of Israel, along with nine other demonstrators for their participation in a protest against the war on Gaza. The arrest took place after the police brutally dispersed the protest, using rubber bullets and stun grenades. Although nine of the demonstrators, including four minors, were later released, the Akka Magistrates’ Court agreed with the state’s request to continue to detain Jabareen and Khalefa. The Haifa District Court then rejected the legal team's appeal against the magistrate’s court decision. The state soon charged them with two offenses of “incitement to terrorism,” which carries a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, and “identification with a terrorist organization,” which carries a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment, under the 2016 Israeli Counter-Terror Law, with the authorities alleging that they had led chants at the protest in support of terrorism. Despite many appeals by the legal team, Jabareen has been held in an Israeli prison for the past seven months, enduring inhumane conditions of detention. Khalefa spent four months in custody before the Israeli Supreme Court ordered his release to house arrest, albeit under strict conditions, on 30 January 2024.
This case is unprecedented. It marks the first time that the state prosecutor has filed an indictment for incitement to terrorism against PCI non-violent and non-disruptive demonstrators. The criminalization of the demonstrators’ chants, slogans that have been repeated by PCI in protests for decades, constitutes a new, extremely harsh level of suppression of dissent by Israel.
Adalah Attorneys Myssana Morany and Hadeel Abo-Saleh, together with Adalah’s General Director Dr. Hassan Jabareen, are representing Muhammad Jabareen and co-representing Ahmad Khalefa, along with Attorney Afnan Khalefa, on behalf of the Human Rights Defenders Fund.
Muhammad Jabareen, 31-years-old, is an activist who works with youth in Umm al-Fahem. Ahmed Khalefa, 42-years-old, is a human rights lawyer and a newly-elected member of the local city council of Umm al-Fahem. They are prominent members of the Hirak al-Fahmawi movement. This movement, composed of activists and political groups based in Umm al-Fahem, has collectively organized to oppose the violence and crime within the Palestinian community in Israel, and the consistent inaction of the police in addressing it, among other issues. Both Jabareen and Khalefa are community organizers and local political activists seeking to defend the human rights of PCI.
Before the filing of the indictment, the courts detained Jabareen and Khalefa for three weeks. On 6 November 2023, the prosecution filed an indictment under Article 24 of Israel’s 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law. These charges, which rely on overly broad and vague definitions, have been used by Israeli authorities in an unprecedented and draconian manner to suppress and prosecute PCI and Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the war on Gaza. The indictment is solely based on slogans that Jabareen and Khalefa chanted in Arabic during the protest. These chants, commonly used by Palestinians for decades, contain no references to terrorism, violence, or designated terrorist organizations whatsoever. The chants that the prosecution consider most severe include:
“Oh Gaza, all of you, honor and respect...
Oh Gaza, hold on, be strong... From your lands lions emerged...
The unity of your people, Palestine... A thorn in the throats of the oppressors...
Resist, resist, resist…Don't bargain about Gaza/your lands”
Chants used in demonstrations are coined to be concise and memorable. They often use terms that rhyme and can be adapted to different occasions. Thus, these chants also hold historical significance. They have been frequently used in various contexts including peaceful protests against the Prawer Plan, in Sheikh Jarrah against forced displacement of Palestinians and settler land grabs, against Israel’s killing and maiming of Palestinians in Gaza during the Great March of Return, and against Israeli raids on the Jenin refugee camp. Contrary to the state's narrative associating 'lions' with Hamas combatants, the above slogan has no specific affiliation with any organization. Instead, the chant embodies a broader sentiment of resilience and strength, serving as a testament to Palestinians’ endurance in the face of adversity.
"Gaza shall not bow down to tanks nor to cannons, nor shall it bend its knee to planes nor to cannons. And there is no solution, no solution, except in uprooting the occupier.” This chant calls for an end to Israel's illegal 56-year occupation and the 17-year blockade of Gaza. Importantly, it does not advocate violence or endorse any terrorist organization. Instead, it urges the occupied people not to acquiesce or submit. Thus, it clearly falls under the protection of freedom of speech. During police interrogations, both Jabareen and Khalefa emphasized their opposition to any form of violence.
Together with the indictment, the state requested that the Haifa Magistrate’s Court detain Jabareen and Khalefa until the conclusion of their legal proceedings. This request aligns with the state attorney’s office's broader policy, in effect since October 7, to seek detention until the end of legal proceedings in all cases involving charges of incitement to terrorism. According to figures released by the Israeli police on 1 May 2024, over 160 indictments have been filed, almost exclusively against PCI and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. A state attorney’s office official recently revealed in the Israeli media that due to the state’s “zero tolerance approach”, approximately 80% of these cases have resulted in detention until the conclusion of proceedings.
The legal defense team urged the court to release Jabareen and Khalefa, and to consider their harsh detention conditions, highlighting the deprivation of basic necessities and the degrading treatment they endured. The team further argued that alleged speech offenses, which they asserted constitute exercises of free speech, do not present a level of dangerousness that justifies continued detention. Despite these arguments, the Haifa Magistrates' Court decided to accept the state’s request and to continue to detain Jabareen until the conclusion of his criminal proceedings; after seven months, the case remains in its initial stages. The Court ordered the release of Khalefa to home arrest, which was immediately appealed by the state. The Haifa District Court granted the state’s appeal on 15 January 2024, and Khalefa remained in prison.
On 25 January 2024, Khalefa’s legal team appealed to the Supreme Court, which on 9 February 2024, overturned the District Court's decision, and released him to house arrest. He is banned from using the internet, subjected to electronic monitoring, and he must reside outside of his hometown of Umm al-Fahem.
Muhammad Jabareen remains in detention in an Israel Prison Service (IPS) facility. On 6 May 2024, Adalah filed a motion to the Haifa Magistrates' Court to release Jabareen, and a hearing is scheduled for 20 May 2024.
The motion argues that Jabareen is subjected to deplorable conditions in prison. Both Jabareen and Khalefa endured torture and other forms of ill-treatment, including beatings and threats. Jabareen, who was initially detained in Megiddo Prison near Umm al-Fahem, and is now held in Ramon Prison in southern Israel, testified during a court hearing on 16 April 2024, stating:
“No detainee, myself included, went to sleep satisfied [not hungry] [...] Every day, there are new rules from the prison administration, like being forced to sit on our knees with our hands behind our backs [...] [...] The food is full of hair. We don't have laundry facilities to wash our clothes. We have diseases, like scabies.”
Jabareen has lost a significant amount of weight since his arrest seven months ago. He further reported being subjected to humiliating and violent practices, including when transferring him from his cell to the room where he joins the court hearing via video, “they [the guards] cover my eyes, lower my head, forbid me from lifting it, and force me to bend over. After bending over, they place my head between my legs. They try to push me towards anything in the way. The handcuffs are so tight that they leave marks on my wrists. The guards also hold the handcuffs and twist them in a way that's painful. When we reach a door, it opens, and then my head hits the wall, and they start laughing.”
Similarly, Khalefa, initially held at Megiddo Prison where three Palestinians in custody have died, and later moved to Gilboa Prison, recounted how a fellow inmate was beaten to death and left to die in custody, during a hearing before the Haifa Magistrate Court, noting:
“He was shouting from Thursday to Saturday that his stomach was hurting, and they would hush him. The prisoners also hushed him; they didn't want to be collectively punished because of one person's shouting. On Friday,” Khalefa continued, “the prisoner held it in, but on Saturday, he continued crying out that his stomach and intestines were hurting. I can still hear his voice. Then they took him. I thought, I had some faith, that they were taking him to be treated. But the guards put him in a separate cell, and he died that night.”
Khalefa also reported that during a hearing attended via video conference, he was repeatedly threatened by the guards with reprisals if he were to voice testimony regarding the conditions of detention. Such treatment is part of a broader trend of systemic abuse, torture, and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons and detention facilities that have significantly escalated since October 7.
This case is part of an intensified crackdown on Palestinians’ free speech, which has reached an all-time high since October 7. The police have aggressively suppressed PCI expression, particularly on social media. The state targets individuals critical of the war and those expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza, and subjects them to prolonged detention periods under deplorable conditions to serve as a deterrence.
