Adnan Gheith, a member of the Al-Bustan Neighborhood Committee and a dignitary of Silwan, was officially notified Sunday that an order expelling him from Jerusalem would come into effect at 5 PM Sunday evening. The order is not part of a judicial process, does not include charges and is based on secret material. An appeal for an injunction was to be filed at the Israeli High Court later the same day. The order would come into force on the very day of the eviction of a Silwan house, and the planned installment of a new settlement there. Adnan Gheith's Lawyer, Adv. Rami Othman, received a fax from the Home Office Command's legal advisor today, notifying him that the objections he filed against Gheith's deportation were denied. As Othman is preparing an appeal to the Israeli High Court, police forces are gathering amass near Silwan in order to evict the al-Nabb family from their home in the Batten el-Hawa neighborhood in Silwan for the installment of a new Jewish settlement there. The conjunction of events affirms Silwan's residents fears that the expulsion order against Gheith is indeed aimed at pacifying legitimate protest, political activity and grassroots activism. On November 28th, at the peak of three months of political persecution and intimidation which included arrests, harassments and repeated threats, Adnan Gheith was summoned to yet another of many investigations at the police station at the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. Once Gheith – a 34 year-old and one of the leaders of the struggle against home demolition plans in Silwan – appeared at the police station as required, he was served with a letter informing him that the security authorities had presented the Minister of Internal Security with evidence concerning his activity in the Jerusalem area and that the Military Commander intends to expel him from Jerusalem and its surroundings for a four months period. In view of the brutal tactics of repression employed by police against the community in the service of the Elad organization and the Silwan settlers, it is clear that Adnan Gheith's expulsion constitutes an experimental exercise of power on part of the Israeli Police, the Shin Bet and the Israeli Army, intended to prepare the ground for massive home demolitions in the al-Bustan neighborhood and for a deepening Jewish settlement in Silwan. In an attempt to stop democratic and legitimate protest, the State makes distorted and cynical use of the law. Despite months of repeated arrests, in which Gheith was led handcuffed to interrogation no less than seven times – and with courts releasing him time after time – the police has not managed to present the slightest bit of evidence against him. The State has now decided to no longer bother with the criminal procedure where evidence is required, but rather to circumvent it by using the security apparatus. With the expected approval of the order, Adnan Gheith will be expelled from his community, home and family without charges and with no evidence, using a draconian and anti-democratic Mandatory emergency law. The expulsion order from Jerusalem, which General Yair Golan intends to issue against Adnan Gheith, tears yet another mask off the face of Israeli democracy, and will push the residents of Silwan between a rock and a hard place. In contrast to the security rhetoric employed by the authorities, this action will do nothing to promote the security of Jerusalem, but rather harm the already-shaken sense of security of the residents of Silwan. This cynical use of Mandatory law is not truly intended to secure Jerusalem, but rather to secure the future of Jewish settlement in Silwan. Lacking any legal basis for action against Gheith, the security forces seek to criminalize him inevitably, as his very residence in his home will be considered a crime if the expulsion order against him is issued. If the military commander indeed issues the said expulsion order in the coming days, and if Adnan refuses to comply with it and remains within Jerusalem, he will be liable to criminal action. It would seem as if the Israeli government is now turning to unconstitutional and undemocratic means in the face of Palestinian and international pressure to end settlement in East Jerusalem. Gheith's expulsion from Jerusalem will not only exact an unbearable cost on him and his family, but also on the residents of Silwan. In addition, if this extreme step is taken, it would constitute another dramatic chapter in the crumbling of Israeli democracy. PSCC
