What appears to be the end of the legal proceedings in the case of Ms. Tali Fahima took place in the Tel Aviv District Court last week.

The judges approved the plea bargain, which was a face saving device for the court, the State Prosecution and the GSS (General Security Service).

While justice was not served, this was a reasonable pragmatic decision of Ms. Fahima's. In 11 months she will (hopefully) be released. Please remember that on the first day in Court the possibility of the death sentence was discussed!

Ms. Fahima's release in 11 months, rather than a year later, still depends on the Prison Authority granting her the customary third off for "good behavior". However, the GSS already agreed, as part of the plea bargain, not to object, as they usually do in "security" cases. Had Ms. Fahima insisted on proceeding with the trial, it would have taken at least as long (while she is in jail), possibly longer, in view of the slow pace of the court and the long list of witnesses still in store.

The exact wording of the plea bargain is not terribly interesting. Nobody takes it to represent truth. It's just a "deal".

Ms. Fahima managed to break several taboos:

She is the first peace activist stemming from the underprivileged population of the "development towns", where ignorance and hatred for Palestinians are cultivated along with poverty, unemployment, substandard education and medical services. Several scholars in the area of Israeli sociology have interpreted the harassment of Ms. Fahima for actions that many of us (upper middle class, academics, "ashkenazi") have done, as a manifestation of the fear that the blind support the anti-peace, pro-occupation policy of the government enjoys within the large segment of the Israeli population that Ms. Fahima originates from, may now be shaken.

Her visits to Jenin allowed the Israeli public to get acquainted with Mr. Zakharia Zweidi, with whom she met. For the first time a Palestinian militant has been extensively interviewed on all Israeli electronic and printed media. His personal history, including the killing of his mother and brother by the Israeli army in the infamous invasion of Jenin [see http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/], have been reported upon. Instead of a demonizing one-dimensional caricature, the human face of the Palestinian militant struggle was given stage in a very prominent manner. As pacifists we denounce Mr. Zweidi's approach as strongly as we reject the Israeli brutal occupation. However, there is no denying that he established himself in the eyes of the Israeli public as an impressive person, a man of honor and courage, and as a credible partner for genuine peace.

The Israeli public has become sensitized to the total lack of credibility of the GSS and to the cooperation of the State Prosecution and the Courts with this distortion of truth and justice. This is far from being the end of the struggle for a credible and responsible security apparatus and for true independence and adherence to norms of justice of the courts, but this is a major step forward.

The members of the ad hoc group who most closely followed Ms. Tali Fahima's trial are committed to be much more aware than before of the injustice of the courts, whose most obvious manifestation is the totally unacceptable practice of "administrative detention" (that requires no substantive justification and that can be applied to anybody, at any time, for any length of time).

Our personal commitment to Ms. Fahima is not over. Many people have generously supported our fundraising campaign, but the legal bill is not yet fully settled. We will keep providing for Ms. Fahima monthly "canteen" allowance while she is in jail. After a very favorable "character testimony" by one of her former employers (a Tel Aviv Lawyer) she was already offered an attractive job by a Jerusalem-based office. We encourage her to spend the remaining time in jail to study in order to overcome the less-than-adequate high-school education that the city of Kiryat Gat, where she grew up, could offer, and consider further studies when she is finally released.

This is possibly my last message on the Tali Fahima affair. With all of you, I would like to wish her well.