Ezra Nawi Sentenced

As reported earlier, a judge found Ezra Nawi guilty of assaulting two members of the Israeli border police during the 2007 demolition of a Palestinian house. Nawi, a human rights activist, was finally sentenced on October 21. According to www.supportezra.net, Nawi will serve one month in prison and must pay a fine of 750 shekels, plus 500 shekels in compensation to each police officer involved. Additionally, Nawi will serve a six-month suspended sentence if arrested again within the next three years for  “unlawful assembly” or for “interfering with a policeman carrying out his duty.”

David Schulman notes in the aforementioned BR article, “[Nawi] will not be the first imprisoned for defending the defenseless.” Today we salute not only our veterans but peace activists who work to make suffering and war unnecessary. Read more about the current state of Israel’s peace movement in “Peace Out” by Helena Cobban, from the July/August 2009 issue of Boston Review.