Israel-Palestine news recently published a story about Israel’s arrest and conviction of a Christian official with the humanitarian organization, World Vision.
But this is a standard Israeli move. Despite a lack of evidence — in fact, the defense produced abundant evidence demonstrating that the accused was completely innocent — Israel moved aggressively on its bogus charges.
You can find the article by Kathryn Shihadah at Israel-Palestine News. It is titled “Israel convicts World Vision official despite evidence he’s innocent.” I have reproduced the article’s highlights below:
Israel found Mohammed El Halabi guilty of diverting $50 million from World Vision charity, ignoring compelling facts: the total budget for 10 years was under $23 million; El Halabi’s alleged ‘confession’ was directed by Israeli authorities; independent audits showed Israeli charges were unfounded; and both the Australian government (a major donor to World Vision) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) conducted special reviews and found no wrongdoing.
In violation of international law, Israel kept Mohammed El Halabi in prison for weeks before he was allowed access to an attorney, and before informing his family of his whereabouts. He reported that his Israeli interrogators beat him – the UN says his treatment “may amount to torture.”
Israel’s reliance on highly questionable “secret evidence” to convict El Halabi (and thousands of other Palestinians) indicates a deeply flawed judicial system.
Click here to read the entire piece.
