Israel Sentences Palestinian Poet to Five Months for Anti-Occupation Poem

Nazareth, MINA — The Israeli Magistrate Court in Nazareth sentenced on Tuesday Palestinian poet Darin Tatour, from Al-Reineh near Nazareth in northern Israel, to five months in prison for writing a poem critical of the Israeli occupation and posting it on social media, WAFA reportd.

The court found her guilty of “incitement and supporting a terrorist organization.”

Tatour had spent more than two years and eight months between prison and house arrest for writing the poem.

She said that she was not surprised by the ruling, “even though it was an unjust decision and there was no reason to put me on trial in the first place.”

She said she does not trust Israeli courts, describing arresting and sentencing her as politically motivated. “Democracy is confined to one type of people in this country,” she said in reference to discrimination against the Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel.

Tatour spent several months in prison before being placed under house arrest in January 2016. She was initially placed in an apartment in Tel Aviv and her movement was restricted because she was considered a “threat to public safety.”

She was then allowed to return to her family’s home in Al-Reineh. However, her house arrest continued in various forms until the end of her trial. She was not allowed to use mobile phones or have access to the internet.

Tatour was arrested on October 11, 2015 and indicted on November 2, 2015 with charges of “incitement to violence and support for a terrorist organization”.(R/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)