Israel Matzav

Balad MK indicted over trip to Syria

Balad Knesset member Said Naffa has been indicted for a trip to Syria that he took four years ago.

More than four years after visiting Syria, Balad MK Said Naffaa has been indicted for a line of offences including contact with a foreign agent. "This is proof of the government's racist and discriminatory policy," Naffaa told Ynet.

Two indictments were filed with the Nazareth District Court on Monday. According to the first indictment, MK Naffaa joined a group of Druze clerics who were organizing a trip for 282 Israelis to Syria via Jordan in September 2007. It is claimed that the MK tried to obtain entry permits to Syria through former MK Azmi Bishara and the Syrian Embassy in Jordan.

Naffaa later entered Syria with the group and stayed in the country for a week in violation of Israeli law. Under this indictment he is charged with aiding and abetting illegal departure to an enemy country and illegal departure to an enemy country.

While in Syria, the MK met with Deputy Director General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Talal Naji and is therefore charged with contacting a foreign agent. During this meeting, Naji coordinated a meeting with Hamas Politburo Khaled Mashaal at Naffaa's request. The MK arrived at Mashaal's chambers the following day.

The second indictment charges 16 Israeli citizens for offences involving unlawful trips to Syria and Lebanon. "Each of the defendants collected names of clerics who wanted to go to Syria, charged them for travel arrangements and accommodation and received their documents for entry permits," the indictment stated. It is claimed that Naffaa arranged entry passes for himself and 282 other people, mainly Druze clerics.

As you may recall, Azmi Bishara fled from Israel in 2007 and resigned from the Knesset rather than face treason charges for acting as a spotter for Hezbullah during the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

This indictment is long overdue.

Labels: Saad Naffaa, Syria, treason

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:07 PM