On Sunday August 16th, Ezra Nawi will stand trial for his beliefs in Israel. This is not the first time that Ezra Nawi stands trial for his beliefs. But it is the first time that they will probably be able to stop him.
He has been harassed and targeted throughout the years, because, he believes, he embodies three elements which provoke bigotry in the Israeli society: He is a homosexual, he is a Mizrahi Jew, and he devotes all of his time to fighting for the human rights of Arab Palestinians.
In his own words:
I always knew that many people silently supported me, and that if I ever got into trouble they would stand behind me. This moment has come.
Ezra adds: I am a simple person. I did what my heart told me to do. Looking back, I know that what my friends and I have done is changing the harsh reality of the occupation in the whole area of south Hebron. I feel that now the Israeli authorities are punishing me on a personal level.
I would like to believe that my personal adversity will inspire and motivate individuals to actively oppose the occupation.
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The sentencing has been postponed to September 21.
During the hearing, the Jewish Voices for Peace group presented the court with a petition signed by 20,000 supporters abroad, asking it not to send Nawi to jail.
Nawi, a Jewish pacifist, denied the allegation that he had assaulted a policeman on the occasion that he had tried to prevent the demolition of a Bedouin home in February 2007, adding that the trial had revealed the Israeli State's culture of lies.
He said he was proud of the backing he had received from Noam Chomsky and others.
"Maybe some Israelis aren't happy about the support I get from Chomsky, but I can tell you that the police officers who lie all the time are 1,000 times more dangerous than Chomsky, who isn't dangerous at all." he said according to a report in an Israeli newspaper
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