Palestinian Sells House to Jews. Palestinians Sentence Him to Life in Prison.
On Monday, a Palestinian-American, a U.S. citizen who had been arrested in October for selling a house in the Old City of Jerusalem to a Jewish Israeli organization, was sentenced to life in prison by a Palestinian court in Ramallah.
According to The Forward, the man’s arrest came after he was summoned to Ramallah. The Forward wrote, “Issam Aqel responded to a PA summons to appear in Ramallah where he was called in to ‘sign paperwork.’ But once he appeared, Aqel wasn’t allowed to leave. According to people who have been in touch with him, he was tortured.” As The Jerusalem Post notes, “As a resident of east Jerusalem, he holds an Israeli ID card that gives him immunity against being arrested or prosecuted in a PA court.”
The Jerusalem Post stated: “Akel was accused of acting as a broker in the sale of a house jointly owned by the Alami and Halabi families in the Muslim Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. Palestinians claimed that the house was sold for $500,000 to Ateret Kohanim, a Jewish organization that has been purchasing Arab-owned properties in east Jerusalem for several years.” The PA’s official news agency Wafa asserted Akel was convicted of “selling a house to the enemy in Jerusalem.”
According to Yifa Segal, an attorney specializing in International Law and Human Rights Law and the Executive Director of the International Legal Forum, her organization contacted the U.S. Embassy, prompting U.S. ambassador David Friedman to contact the Palestinian Authority (PA) and ask for Aqel’s release. Back in November, Friedman had tweeted, “Aqel’s incarceration is antithetical to the values of the US & to all who advocate the cause of peaceful coexistence. We demand his immediate release.”
The Pal Authority has been holding US citizen Isaam Akel in prison for ~2 months. His suspected “crime”? Selling land to a Jew. Akel’s incarceration is antithetical to the values of the US & to all who advocate the cause of peaceful coexistence. We demand his immediate release.
— David M. Friedman (@USAmbIsrael) November 28, 2018
But the PA dismissed Friedman’s request, although Aqel was permitted to telephone his wife and an American official was permitted to visit him. Both his wife and the official confirmed Aqel had been tortured, according to The Forward. (Read more from “Palestinian Sells House to Jews. Palestinians Sentence Him to Life in Prison.” HERE)
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