Our feature presentation this week is our own in-depth interview with Israeli attorney Nery Ramati. Ramati may be best described as an Israeli human rights attorney who represents a wide variety of clients all suffering the effects of the occupation in both Israel and the occupied West Bank of Palestine. He speaks to us about his work, his clients, the legal system within which he operates, and how that legal system works for (or against) Jews versus Arabs in a culture of occupation.
In the United States, theoretically there is just one system of laws, and theoretically they apply uniformly to all who reside here. (In actual practice, there is outrageous discrimination between rich versus poor, white versus nonwhite, and big corporate versus little guy.) By contrast, as attorney Ramati points out, Israel has two explicitly different sets of official laws, one for Israeli Jews and another for Palestinians. Israel has some 50 laws that provide benefits, services, or protections to the Jewish population that it denies or does not extend to other populations. In the occupied territories where most Palestinians live, a harsh, arcane, military law system applies. For example, look at what happens when a child is caught throwing rocks. If the child is Israeli, the most he/she will face is a good scolding; if the child is Palestinian, he/she will face arrest, beating, a prison sentence, and sometimes death, all in accord with military law.
We challenged attorney Ramati to explain what keeps him going despite the huge odds any attorney faces in the course of defending Palestinians. His answer: the vital importance of resistance to tyranny.
This Week In Palestine (a weekly part of Truth and Justice Radio) is an award-winning three-quarter-hour segment of news from Palestine and discussion of issues relevant to the Palestinians' struggle for freedom from Israel's brutal military occupation and colonization of their homeland. It speaks from the point of view of Palestinians and those who care about them. It's a regular part of Truth and Justice Radio, aired Sundays 6-10am ET on WZBC 90.3FM, Newton, MA, streaming and archived for two weeks at wzbc.org; TJR's website, truthandjusticeradio.org, has a link to This Week In Palestine archives back thru 1-6-2008; earlier editions are obtainable from radio4all.net or by navigating through our playlists. (At this important time, TJR has been airing a lot of Palestine coverage IN ADDITION to that provided by This Week In Palestine.) We hope you'll write to us at tjr@bluebottle.com if you rebroadcast our work, or have questions or comments.
This Week In Palestine 1-31-2016
Nery Ramati, an Israeli attorney devoted to defending Palestinians from Israel's ravages
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