Several Palestinian rights organizations today held a rally outside the Israeli Ofer military camp and detention center west of Ramallah calling for a boycott of the Israeli military courts.
The organizations, which defend the rights of Palestinian political prisoners in Israel, accused the courts of being a tool in the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities to suppress the Palestinian people and do not guarantee a fair trial.
These courts are a tool in the hands of the occupation authorities to impose greater control and domination over the Palestinians, whether by absence of a fair trial, arbitrary and administrative detention, the arrest of children, the imposition of fines, torture of detainees, and other crimes committed on a daily basis, said Sahar Francis, head of the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
Qaddoura Faris, head of the Palestinian Prisoner Society, said boycotting the courts is important because they are responsible for the suppression of the Palestinian people while legitimizing the illegal acts of the occupation authorities. Some of these acts can be considered war crimes, he said.
Shaawan Jabarin, head of Al-Haq, said the time has come to fully expose these courts at the international level and to consider their leaders as war criminals.