David Ha'Ivri, a supporter of the Kahane Chai movement, was sentenced last week to four months in prison, commutable to public service. Although he was acquitted of the original charge - disseminating T-shirts with the message, "No Arabs - No Terrorism" - he was found guilty of the relatively minor charge of "obstruction of justice."
The original charge was "incitement to racism," based on the T-shirt message implying that if there were no Arabs in Israel, there would also be no terrorism. The court did not deal with the actual charge and did not rule as to whether selling such T-shirts represented incitement to racism, but rather found him innocent because of a last-minute finding that his alleged signature on a police complaint was actually forged. The court did not exonerate Ha'Ivri totally, however, finding him guilty of obstructing justice - a charge with which he was not originally charged.
The "obstruction of justice" was manifest in the fact that Ha'Ivri did not inform the court in the first place that his signature was forged, thus preventing the prosecution from bringing charges against the forger.
Although Judge Amnon Cohen originally acknowledged that obstruction of justice rarely merits a serious sentence, he said that Ha'ivri is an exception - and sentenced him to four months in jail, a six-month suspended sentence, and either a 5,000 shekel fine or 30 additional days of jail. Friends and supporters of Ha'Ivri have started an on-line petition at <"www.petitiononline.com/haivri/petition.html>" to help raise public awareness as well as funds.
The original charge was "incitement to racism," based on the T-shirt message implying that if there were no Arabs in Israel, there would also be no terrorism. The court did not deal with the actual charge and did not rule as to whether selling such T-shirts represented incitement to racism, but rather found him innocent because of a last-minute finding that his alleged signature on a police complaint was actually forged. The court did not exonerate Ha'Ivri totally, however, finding him guilty of obstructing justice - a charge with which he was not originally charged.
The "obstruction of justice" was manifest in the fact that Ha'Ivri did not inform the court in the first place that his signature was forged, thus preventing the prosecution from bringing charges against the forger.
Although Judge Amnon Cohen originally acknowledged that obstruction of justice rarely merits a serious sentence, he said that Ha'ivri is an exception - and sentenced him to four months in jail, a six-month suspended sentence, and either a 5,000 shekel fine or 30 additional days of jail. Friends and supporters of Ha'Ivri have started an on-line petition at <"www.petitiononline.com/haivri/petition.html>" to help raise public awareness as well as funds.