The Women in Green organization protested Tuesday at the Jerusalem International Convention Center at Binyanei Hauma to call for the release of Itzik and Danny Halamish, residents of the Gush Etzion community of Ma'aleh Rechavam. The two brothers are currently serving eight months in jail for allegedly shooting Arabs who infiltrated the community in February, 2004.
The protest coincided with the "Third Annual Conference on Quality of the Government."
Nadia Matar
Women in Green Chairwoman Nadia Matar told IsraelNationalNews.com that although the protest was small (approximately 20 people participated), the experience of standing to support the Halamish brothers was powerful and inspiring.
"We protested outside the conference for about an hour, then went to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station across the street to pass out flyers and to educate people about the fate of two innocent Jews who are not guilty of anything more than trying to protect themselves, their neighbors and their community.
"There, in the bus station, we could really feel the power of Am Yisrael rising up. People just don't know anything about this story because the mainstream media has censored itself away from reporting on the story at all, but once people learned about it they showed a genuine desire to help. We came away truly inspired, and would like to go back to the bus station to hand out flyers at least a couple of times a month," she said.
Aharon Halamish: Case is a 'Stain' on Israeli Justice System
The protest was particularly notable due to the presence of Aharon and Edna Halamish, parents of the prisoners and residents of the Samaria town of Ofra. Aharon Halamish noted that the conference seemed to have few attendees, but said that the passersby that he spoke to outside the convention center were sympathetic to his sons' plight once they heard about it. He also said his family is concentrating efforts now on obtaining a pardon from President Shimon Peres.
"We aren't asking Peres for mercy," he said. "We are asking him to correct a total miscarriage of justice, one that is a stain on Israel's system of justice. The district court that sentenced them to prison admitted that there had been problems with the trial, but they chose to maintain the verdict and sentence because of 'technical reasons.' They had obviously decided on an outcome in advance, worked towards obtaining that verdict and stuck to it once they had it."
The Halamish family has called on the public to help pressure officials to release the two brothers, Itzik and Danny. Faxes calling for their release should be sent to President Shimon Peres at (02) 561-1033.