Ashraf Abu Ali, 45, from the city of Qalansuwa, is preparing to surrender to the Israeli occupation authorities and serve a 13-month-long prison sentence
His sentence came after the Israeli court condemned him to imprisonment on grounds of an old file, of about 4 years ago, on charges including “espionage with hostile countries.”
Abu Ali was released a few months ago, after spending 7 months in detention, as the occupation police arrested him during the events in May 2021 after his participation in demonstrations in Jerusalem.
Ashraf Abu Ali spoke about his new arrest decision, as he says that the Israeli court has sentenced him to 13 months in prison on an old file, and that he must turn himself in to the Israeli occupation authorities within 3 months to begin serving his sentence.
He continues, that this decision to arrest came on charges in an old file 4 years ago. The file includes alleged charges of “communicating with countries hostile to Israel” and charges of “obstructing the work of the police” in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and “photographing a policeman while performing his work,” adding that he was tried alongside this file. It has two other files, namely, Habat AlKarama protest in Jerusalem and the file of “threatening to kill Netanyahu.”
He points out that the “threat to kill Netanyahu” file is a file that ended years ago, but the Israeli Public Prosecution brought it and presented it to the Israeli court recently, although it ended and was closed, as Abu Ali was arrested, pointing out that his arrest on this file came after the Israeli forces demolition of 14 houses in Qalansuwa and Abu Ali stood to confront these demolitions alongside side the city’s residents.
Abu Ali stresses that the arrests are innumerable, as the Israeli forces detain him for several months on different files and then release him, noting that the majority of his arrests came after he resisted the demolition of his house by “Israel”. Abu Ali also noted that he is also prohibited from traveling.
The Abu house in Qalansuwa is only one of the houses threatened with demolition under the pretext of building without a permit. The Israeli demolition forces have tried to demolish his house several times, but they are always confronted, and he can extract a decision to freeze the demolition.
He pointed out to that his house has been under threat of demolition since 2014, saying, “I am always arrested after confronting demolitions and I always tell the intelligence that this house is a 30-year dream and I will not allow it to be demolished easily,” stressing that the Israeli forces are renewing the demolition of the house on condition that he pays a substantial financial fine.
He revealed saying, “On the day, a few months ago, the Israeli forces gave me a paper to pay the fine after freezing the demolition of the house, and the officer told me at the time that I had to pay 65,000 shekels so that the demolition would not take place.”
Regarding the payment of financial fines, Abu Ali asserts that he did not receive any financial assistance from anyone, whether in paying the costs of lawyers or in paying financial fines on the house.
Abu Ali says, “During my last arrest, my friend paid the costs of the lawyer assigned to follow my case because he did not attend court sessions and did not answer his phone when we called him… When my friend was able to secure the money, the lawyer answered.”
“All the parties are aware of my case, but they did not even congratulate me for my release after my last arrest, and no one cares about my sick mother even though I appealed to them repeatedly.”
Ashraf Abu Ali points out to Al-Jarmaq that his mother is a person with special needs and cannot walk or support himself, as he is the only breadwinner for her and the caretaker of her affairs, saying, “During the period of my last detention, my mother was transferred to a home for the elderly after she was neglected by everyone. No one helped her despite My appeals to all parties in Qalansuwa.”
