WEST BANK: Pro-Palestinian Israeli filmmaker killed in West Bank city
April 4, 2011 | 1:14 pm
Israeli-born filmmaker and actor Juliano Mer-Khamis, 52, was shot dead in the northern West Bank city of Jenin on Monday.
It was not clear who was responsible, but some Palestinians believe the perpetrators may be among those opposed to the liberal cultural activity Mer-Khamis had brought to Jenin and his role in building the Freedom Theater in 2006.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad condemned the killing, describing it as “hideous crime” and promising to bring to justice those responsible.
Khamis was born in Nazareth, northern Israel, to a Palestinian father, Saliba Khamis, one of the leaders of the Israeli Communist Party, and a Jewish mother, Arna Mer, a peace activist who had worked with children in the Jenin refugee camp after the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in the early 1990s.
Juliano Mer-Khamis lived with his mother in the Jenin refugee camp for several periods.
Apart from starting the Freedom Theater in Jenin, Mer-Khamis also directed the film "Arna’s Children" (2004), which tells the story of his mother and the struggle of Palestinians in Jenin in the face of Israel's occupation. He also acted in Julian Schnabel's new movie, "Miral," which was recently presented at the United Nations amid protests from Israel.
His last directed work is the locally produced Arabic play, "The Chairs," which had its debut at Ramallah’s Kasaba theater on Sunday.
George Ibrahim, director of Kasaba theater and who performed in "The Chairs," said he was shocked when he heard the news of Mer-Khamis’ death. He accused people who were against seeing Palestinian cultural activities in the city of being behind the killing, but without naming them. He was clearly referring to fundamentalists who saw in the Freedom Theater a liberalization of a traditional and conservative Muslim society.
The Freedom Theater itself had come under attack twice in the past and a Jenin-based music school was set fire to at one point, giving some credence to Ibrahim’s charges.
“We will not allow, under any circumstances, the return to chaos and lawlessness,” said Prime Minister Fayyad in his statement.
Armed gunmen had at one point controlled the Palestinian streets until Fayyad, who took office in mid-2007, had in a short time put an end to this phenomena and brought stability and rule of law to the Palestinian territories.
— Maher Abukhater in Ramallah, West Bank
Photo: People, carrying images of Juliano Mer-Khamis, hold a protest in Ramallah, West Bank, over his killing. Credit: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters
Obama administration won't pursue civilian trials for 9/11 suspects
The administration acquiesces to GOP demands that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four suspected co-conspirators be tried before a military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay.
Reporting from Washington—
The Obama administration admitted defeat in its efforts to prosecute the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks before a civilian jury in New York City, announcing that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four others would be tried by a military commission at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The decision, announced Monday by Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., marks a sharp political setback for President Obama, who had repeatedly pledged to use civilian courts to try "high-value" terrorism suspects. It also creates fresh uncertainty about the legal road ahead for senior Al Qaeda suspects now in custody.
A federal judge in Manhattan promptly dismissed a sealed grand jury indictment from December 2009 against Mohammed and the four others pending transfer of the case to the military tribunal. The existence of the 10-count, 81-page federal indictment against the five men was not previously known.
Several hours later, Navy Capt. John Murphy, chief prosecutor in the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, announced that charges would be filed "in the near future" to try the case at Guantanamo. Mohammed and his codefendants are among about 170 detainees at the military prison there.
"I intend to recommend the charges be sent to a military commission for a joint trial," Murphy said, adding that his office already was preparing its case.
In 2007, during a combatant status review tribunal hearing at Guantanamo, Mohammed confessed to the Sept. 11 conspiracy, as well as other lethal terrorist plots, and asked to be put to death. If military prosecutors seek the death penalty, he will not be allowed to plead guilty under the rules of military justice and will have to stand trial.
Mohammed's U.S. interrogators subjected him to waterboarding, a process that simulates drowning, 183 times in March 2003, shortly after he was captured in Pakistan, according to a report by the CIA. None of the statements given under such harsh interrogation procedures can be used against him, according to Obama administration policies.
By moving the trials to civilian court, Obama had hoped to demonstrate the fairness of the U.S. justice system. Civilian proceedings are more transparent and include civilian judges and jurors. In military tribunals, judge and jury are military officers.
But critics feared that a trial on U.S. soil would trigger terrorist reprisals and require an enormous outlay of funds for security. Many also worried that stricter standards for admissible evidence could result in more acquittals and lenient sentences.
Holder said at a news conference that he and the White House "reluctantly" reversed course because Congress passed legislation in December barring the use of federal funds to transfer detainees from Guantanamo to the U.S. In addition, he said, relatives of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed almost a decade ago in the attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon were losing patience.
Holder said he was confident prosecutors would have prevailed in New York but took solace that the cases would proceed in the military system.
The New York indictment listed all of those who were killed, filling 36 pages.
"For the victims of these heinous attacks and their families, justice is long overdue, and it must not be delayed any longer," Holder said.
At the White House, Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested that the need to bring the five suspects to trial drove the decision to hand them to the military legal system. The administration has spent 15 months reviewing possible trial venues outside Guantanamo, including a vacant state prison in Thomson, Ill.
"The president's commitment here is this: Those who are suspected and accused of participating in those heinous attacks be brought to justice," Carney said. "That is his primary concern."
The decision, announced on the same day that Obama opened his reelection campaign, reflected a realization that the president cannot overcome political opposition to civilian prosecution of Guantanamo detainees and that he had to shelve his campaign promise to shutter the detention camp at the naval base.
On Capitol Hill, those who opposed a New York trial and sought to keep the Guantanamo prison open applauded the announcement.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said Obama's campaign promises were "built on the naive premise that softening America's image would somehow soften our enemies' resolve."
On the Democratic side, Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York said the reversal was "the final nail in the coffin of a wrongheaded idea."
The decision, announced Monday by Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., marks a sharp political setback for President Obama, who had repeatedly pledged to use civilian courts to try "high-value" terrorism suspects. It also creates fresh uncertainty about the legal road ahead for senior Al Qaeda suspects now in custody.
A federal judge in Manhattan promptly dismissed a sealed grand jury indictment from December 2009 against Mohammed and the four others pending transfer of the case to the military tribunal. The existence of the 10-count, 81-page federal indictment against the five men was not previously known.
Several hours later, Navy Capt. John Murphy, chief prosecutor in the Pentagon's Office of Military Commissions, announced that charges would be filed "in the near future" to try the case at Guantanamo. Mohammed and his codefendants are among about 170 detainees at the military prison there.
"I intend to recommend the charges be sent to a military commission for a joint trial," Murphy said, adding that his office already was preparing its case.
In 2007, during a combatant status review tribunal hearing at Guantanamo, Mohammed confessed to the Sept. 11 conspiracy, as well as other lethal terrorist plots, and asked to be put to death. If military prosecutors seek the death penalty, he will not be allowed to plead guilty under the rules of military justice and will have to stand trial.
Mohammed's U.S. interrogators subjected him to waterboarding, a process that simulates drowning, 183 times in March 2003, shortly after he was captured in Pakistan, according to a report by the CIA. None of the statements given under such harsh interrogation procedures can be used against him, according to Obama administration policies.
By moving the trials to civilian court, Obama had hoped to demonstrate the fairness of the U.S. justice system. Civilian proceedings are more transparent and include civilian judges and jurors. In military tribunals, judge and jury are military officers.
But critics feared that a trial on U.S. soil would trigger terrorist reprisals and require an enormous outlay of funds for security. Many also worried that stricter standards for admissible evidence could result in more acquittals and lenient sentences.
Holder said at a news conference that he and the White House "reluctantly" reversed course because Congress passed legislation in December barring the use of federal funds to transfer detainees from Guantanamo to the U.S. In addition, he said, relatives of the nearly 3,000 people who were killed almost a decade ago in the attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon were losing patience.
Holder said he was confident prosecutors would have prevailed in New York but took solace that the cases would proceed in the military system.
The New York indictment listed all of those who were killed, filling 36 pages.
"For the victims of these heinous attacks and their families, justice is long overdue, and it must not be delayed any longer," Holder said.
At the White House, Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested that the need to bring the five suspects to trial drove the decision to hand them to the military legal system. The administration has spent 15 months reviewing possible trial venues outside Guantanamo, including a vacant state prison in Thomson, Ill.
"The president's commitment here is this: Those who are suspected and accused of participating in those heinous attacks be brought to justice," Carney said. "That is his primary concern."
The decision, announced on the same day that Obama opened his reelection campaign, reflected a realization that the president cannot overcome political opposition to civilian prosecution of Guantanamo detainees and that he had to shelve his campaign promise to shutter the detention camp at the naval base.
On Capitol Hill, those who opposed a New York trial and sought to keep the Guantanamo prison open applauded the announcement.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said Obama's campaign promises were "built on the naive premise that softening America's image would somehow soften our enemies' resolve."
On the Democratic side, Sen. Charles E. Schumer of New York said the reversal was "the final nail in the coffin of a wrongheaded idea."
9/11 suspects will be tried at Guantanamo, not in New York, Atty. Gen. Eric Holder announces.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sc-dc-0405-holder-ksm-20110404,0,7641104.story
Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., in a major reversal for the Obama administration, 'reluctantly' announces that Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other suspects in the September 11 terror attacks will be tried before a U.S. military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rather than in a civilian court in New York.
WASHINGTON — Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announced "reluctantly" that the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and four other suspects will face justice before a U.S. military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay rather than in a civilian court in New York.
The decision marks a major reversal both for President Obama and Holder, especially since the president initially promised to shut down the prison at the U.S. Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay — where Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the others will now be tried.
"Sadly, this case has been marked by needless controversy since the beginning," Holder said, revealing that a 2009 indictment against Mohammed and the four others has sat for months under seal in federal court in New York, without ever proceeding. "But despite all the argument and debate it has engendered, the prosecution for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators should never have been about settling ideological arguments or scoring political points."
Republican lawmakers, and some Democrats, who vigorously opposed a federal civilian trial for the alleged Sept. 11 plotters welcomed the news that the White House and Holder had reversed their earlier decision to move the defendants from Cuba to New York.
"For the sake of the safety and security of the American people, I'm glad the president reconsidered his position,'' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor. "Going forward, this model should be the rule rather than the exception."
In late 2009, the attorney general said that the trials of the five men would be held in the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, a decision that at first was met with general public approval.
But by early 2010, Holder and the Justice Department were running into steep opposition from New York politicians from both parties, along with much of the public, who were concerned that a civilian trial would cost too much, place New York once again in the terror spotlight, and possibly endanger the New York public. At the same time, there were mounting protests over a new Muslim mosque center near the trade center site as well.
Republicans were so incensed that on Capitol Hill, joining with a good number of Democrats, they passed legislation to prohibit spending any federal funds to move terror detainees from the Cuban prison to the U.S. for civilian trials.
That move in essence blocked the administration's attempts for civilian trials, and last month Ob ama announced that he was restarting the military tribunal process at Guantanamo Bay.
The decision marks a major reversal both for President Obama and Holder, especially since the president initially promised to shut down the prison at the U.S. Naval Base on Guantanamo Bay — where Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the others will now be tried.
"Sadly, this case has been marked by needless controversy since the beginning," Holder said, revealing that a 2009 indictment against Mohammed and the four others has sat for months under seal in federal court in New York, without ever proceeding. "But despite all the argument and debate it has engendered, the prosecution for Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators should never have been about settling ideological arguments or scoring political points."
Republican lawmakers, and some Democrats, who vigorously opposed a federal civilian trial for the alleged Sept. 11 plotters welcomed the news that the White House and Holder had reversed their earlier decision to move the defendants from Cuba to New York.
"For the sake of the safety and security of the American people, I'm glad the president reconsidered his position,'' Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor. "Going forward, this model should be the rule rather than the exception."
In late 2009, the attorney general said that the trials of the five men would be held in the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan, a decision that at first was met with general public approval.
But by early 2010, Holder and the Justice Department were running into steep opposition from New York politicians from both parties, along with much of the public, who were concerned that a civilian trial would cost too much, place New York once again in the terror spotlight, and possibly endanger the New York public. At the same time, there were mounting protests over a new Muslim mosque center near the trade center site as well.
Republicans were so incensed that on Capitol Hill, joining with a good number of Democrats, they passed legislation to prohibit spending any federal funds to move terror detainees from the Cuban prison to the U.S. for civilian trials.
That move in essence blocked the administration's attempts for civilian trials, and last month Ob ama announced that he was restarting the military tribunal process at Guantanamo Bay.
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