Khalil al-Halabi insists his son, who has been jailed on charges of aiding Hamas, is innocent and a humanitarian.
By DAOUD KUTTABPalestinian demonstrators take part in a protest in solidarity with Mohammad El Halabi, World Vision's manager of operations in Gaza who was accused by Israel of funnelling millions of dollars in aid money to Hamas, organised by foundations and societies benefiting from World Vision in Gaza City Aug(photo credit: REUTERS)
In an emotional plea, Khalil al-Halabi, the father of Palestinian humanitarian hero Mohammad al-Halabi, appealed to Israelis to intervene and do justice for his son.Mohammad al-Halabi, the former director for Gaza for World Vision has been held in jail for nearly five years awaiting justice from what those who have followed his case believe are trumped-up charges.The older al Halabi’s latest appeal has been directed at Israelis saying that his son’s case is akin to that of the French Jew Alfred Dreyfus who was wrongfully held and who was eventually exonerated. “I have been reading about the Dreyfus case and I find a lot of similarities with that of my son,” Khalil al-Halabi wrote on his Facebook page. “In both cases the victim has insisted on innocence and in both cases the imprisonment is based on unsubstantiated charges that stem from racial stereotyping.”Khalil al-Halabi outlines the case of how Alfred Dreyfus was charged falsely in 1894 with aiding the hated Germans and how in 1896 intellectuals from France insisted on his innocence and he was finally exonerated in 1899. “Since my son’s imprisonment in 2016 as he was returning home to Gaza after a meeting with World Vision officials in Jerusalem he was arrested and his case was aimed at adding to the pressure and siege on Gaza than on his own guilt.”Khalil al-Halabi says that the government of Australia, World Vision, and many intellectuals from around the world have been writing and calling on Israel to release his son who has not committed any crime and has been in jail for nearly five years.The father of Mohammad al-Halabi has called on the Israeli judiciary to provide his son with the same opportunity that Jews and others demanded of the French judiciary in regards to the Dreyfus case. “In the same way that the French judiciary, in the end, apologized to Alfred Dreyfus, the Israeli judiciary must also release and [make] apologies to my son for wrongfully holding him in jail all this period.”In his appeal to Israelis, the elder Halabi notes that his son has always wanted to be involved in humanitarian work. “Whenever I would sit with him, I often shared with him stories about the importance of human values and how we need to help people regardless of their religion, nationality, or political background. I always said we need to help people in need without asking questions.”Khalil al-Halabi recalls how his son gave up a career in engineering after getting his degree to do humanitarian work. “After my son received a BA in civil engineering, he told me he wanted to study nursing. I asked him why he said it was a profession in which one can make a humanitarian contribution.” Mohammad Halabi landed a job in a humanitarian organization, World Vision, which was working in Gaza. He was appointed based on his merit by international directors who interviewed him. He was good at his job and he really loved being involved in helping people,” his father says.Mohammad used the humanitarian values he had been brought up with to work with cancer patients and to provide emotional support to children in Gaza. He won the UN’s Humanitarian Hero Award and received numerous citations for his work with the needy in Gaza.Mohammad visited Australia before his arrest and he engaged with parliamentarians there including Jewish MPs speaking of his works. Since his arrest, they have expressed regret at his imprisonment because they knew about his humanitarian efforts; letters of solidarity were sent to his family. “We received similar letters from the US, Germany, and Cyprus all supporting my son and his family,” said the senior.
Israeli courts have held 145 sessions since the arrest while insisting on keeping the alleged evidence against Mohamad al-Halabi a secret, including denying his lawyer a chance to see it. Israel initially claimed that Mohammad al-Halabi diverted millions of dollars of humanitarian funds earmarked to help Gazans to Hamas so it can build tunnels and support its military campaign. International audit firms sent by World Vision and the Australian government which funded the program have found no such diversion. Israel has offered to release al Halabi if he admits guilt even to a lesser charge, but he has refused, insisting on his innocence.In his concluding sentence to Israelis, Khalil al-Halabi insists that he has no regrets about how he raised his son. “I have no regrets in raising my son to be a humanitarian and I will proudly plead for his release because he is innocent. The Israeli district court will keep convening and delaying issuing the only just ruling. Everyone knows that my son is innocent, the only thing holding Israelis back is their pride in admitting that they made a mistake just like what happened to Alfred Dreyfus,” he tells any Israeli willing to hear his plea.“My humanitarian son has done nothing wrong and all he did was follow his dream of being a genuine humanitarian. May justice and humanity win the day,” the father concludes.The writer is an award-winning Palestinian journalist and is the former Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University. twitter @daoudkuttab