Earlier this month Elder of Ziyon noted the story of a Palestinian woman who had been accused of informing Israel about the Palestinian Authority. The real shocker was that the woman turned to Israel after reportedly having been forced into prostitution by her husband.
The woman has just been convicted as the AP reports in Palestinian informers given draconian sentences.:
A 22-year-old Palestinian woman, who says she became an informer for Israel to earn money that would get her out of prostitution, is going to prison for life. Others convicted of collaboration with Israel by West Bank courts sit on death row.
Such draconian sentences reflect the loathing Palestinian society has for collaborators, even small-time informants or those blackmailed by Israeli intelligence agents into cooperating.
Yet the harsh treatment of collaborators also highlights the complex realities of life in the West Bank, where a U.S.-backed Palestinian government works increasingly closely with Israeli security forces against a common enemy, the Islamic militant Hamas. Israel has overall security control in the West Bank.
There really isn’t anything “complex” about the story. The Palestinians are obligated by treaty to fight terror. For the most part, they haven’t. But they have taken action against those who have (supposedly) helped Israel.
Furthermore the AP presents Israel as taking advantage of vulnerable Palestinians by recruiting them to spy. Maybe Israel does this, but I doubt that it’s as universal as AP makes it seem. If Israel is trying to recruit people who will have significant knowledge of actionable intelligence it would more likely have to recruit someone at the center of society, rather than someone on its periphery.
Now of course we know little about the trial. The AP accepts the Palestinian narrative with no questions. But over the years it has appeared that charges of helping Israel are often excuses for getting rid of someone who has run afoul of a stronger member of society. There’s no reason to assume that the charges in this case were legitimate.
The AP concludes:
“We do not think there should be a death sentence,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian legislator and human rights advocate. “The punishment has to fit the crime. The crime, in the popular imagination, is the most unconscionable crime. It is a betrayal of everything that people hold sacred.”
In a shorter article the AP reports:
A Palestinian military court found Tagrid guilty of collaborating with Israel on Monday, a rare conviction of a woman for an offense Palestinians consider socially abhorrent.
Note the words I’ve bolded “most unconscionable crime” and “socially abhorrent” are used to describe cooperation with Israel. Israel is expected to promote the creation of a state to live side by side with it. But the citizens of that eventual state, consider it “unconscionable” and “abhorrent” to cooperate with Israel.
However no such modifiers – in either report – are used to describe a man forcing his wife into prostitution.
Finally, there’s something odd about news organizations taking the case against “Tagreed” at face value this week. The Jerusalem Post just reported that a family killed a 15 year old boy for helping the Israelis. This shows how strong the charge is – even if unproven – and how hated Israel is in Palestinian society. It has to raise questions about the validity of the charges against “Tagreed” and about the Palestinian readiness to live in peace with Israel.
See also Elder of Ziyon.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
I thought that the Palestinians hold the honor of women sacred. So where was the leadership, where was Ms. Ashrawi, when this woman was forced into prostitution?
(Of course, they do not hold the honor of women sacred. What they hold sacred is their control over them.)
Now the Mossad should break her out of prison, whether or not she spied for Israel. Whether she did or not, leaving her to rot under this charge (assuming she’s not murdered in prison, which seems likely) would discourage genuine Israel agents, since they would conclude they’ll be hung out to dry if caught. Thus they might well turn themselves in order to prevent prosecution and death, and start acting as double agents for the Palis, feeding false information to Israel.
Incidentally, taking advantage of vulnerable people to recruit them as spies is how all espionage agancies operate. Most spies are recruited that way, and the Mossad can hardly be picky about its tactics, now can it? Indeed, it’s probable that most spies do not actually know whom they are spying for. The false flag recruitment is a common one. The objection that she is too peripheral is a better one. What espionage agencies want in their agents is access, access to critical information, access to key leaders. It sounds like this poor woman had none.