The shaky truce in the occupied territories, negotiated last week by CIA director George Tenet, calls uponPalestinian officials to pre-emptively arrest several hundred alleged militants who were released from jail when thesecond Intifadah began last fall, a demand Palestinian officials have rejected. They point to the more than 2,000Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons, many of whom have been tortured and almost none of whom have never beencharged with any crime.

The major media in this country typically suggest that it is militants in Hamas or the PLO’s Fatah faction who fillIsraeli prisons. But more typical is the case of jailed Palestinian Human Rights activist Abed al-Ahmar, currentlyunder preventative detention by the Israeli military. His case illustrates the challenges routinely faced by evenindependent Palestinians working for human rights and an end to the Israeli occupation.

Guest:

• Allegra Pacheco, an Israeli-American human rights attorney who represents Palestinians in the occupiedterritories and argued a landmark case before the Israeli Supreme Court on the Israel’s use of torture againstPalestinians.

Related link:

• Free Abed