Wadi Ara: Three Young Men Convicted on Serious Charges Following Their Participation in the "Spirit of Dignity" Uprising

SadaNews - An occupation court in Haifa condemned today, Thursday, three young men from the town of Zefat in the Wadi Ara area, who were arrested in connection with their participation in the events of the Spirit of Dignity uprising in May 2021. The three young men are: Obaida Zaitaway (25 years old), who is detained in Nafha Prison; Karim Azam (20 years old), who is under house arrest; and his brother Ibrahim Azam (23 years old), who is held in Gilboa Prison. In the details of the case, Ibrahim Azam was arrested on May 13, 2021, followed by his brother Karim Azam two days later on May 15, before being placed under house arrest about a year after his arrest. Obaida Zaitaway was arrested on the 31st of the same month. The Israeli police and the Shin Bet security service carried out a campaign of arrests against hundreds of young people from the Arab community in connection with protests against the aggression on Gaza, the raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque, and attempts to expel residents of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, as well as assaults by settlers on Arab citizens in the country, in May 2021. It is noteworthy that the Israeli public prosecution recently announced the filing of 397 indictments against 616 defendants, the vast majority of whom are Arabs, with a quarter of them being minors, in connection with the events of the Spirit of Dignity in May 2021, which came in response to the Israeli aggression on Gaza in an operation that was termed in Israel as "Guardian of the Walls," preceded by assaults by Israeli security forces in Jerusalem during Ramadan of the same year. The public prosecutor's report indicated that the 616 defendants, of whom 89% are Arabs, have been arrested since April 2021, noting that "during the aforementioned period, indictments were filed regarding 108 incidents against 239 defendants under aggravated circumstances for terrorist acts or racist motives, 85% of whom are Arab and 15% Jewish." Source: Arabs 48