"This is not a court. The only court I am ready to
recognize is an international court that will investigate the
war crimes that your army perpetrates," said Nasser Abu Humeid,
a Barghouthi aide called as a prosecution witness.
Barghouthi, captured in a commando raid in the West Bank
city of Ramallah a year ago, is on trial in a Tel Aviv court on
charges of orchestrating attacks that killed 26 Israelis since
the start of the revolt for independence in September 2000.
A leader of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites)
faction in the West Bank, Barghouthi, 43, has denied the
allegations and described himself as a political leader.
He told the three-judge court he would take no active part
in a trial he described as "a sham and a lie."
Prosecutors called a string of Palestinian witnesses to the
stand, only to ask the court to declare them as hostile when
they refused to respond to questions and railed against Israeli
occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
"If you continue to fight our people, we will fight you,"
Abu Humeid, jailed for anti-Israeli activities, said after
putting his hands over his ears to shut off questions.
Another witness, Ismail Rudeidah, serving a life sentence
for killing an Israeli in the West Bank, listened to just one
question before responding: "Is this a court? I thought it was
soccer match. Why did you bring me here? I don't want to hear
anything here, you understand?"
Bilal Barghouthi, a relative of the accused, also took the
stand. "This is part of the occupation. You murder women, old
people and children. Palestine is ours, including Jerusalem and
you have no right to judge us," he said.
The witness then covered his ears and tried to walk off the
witness stand. Police pushed him back but court president Sarah
Sirotta eventually ordered him removed from the courtroom.
Some 90 minutes into the hearing, the court ordered further
testimony for the day be held behind closed doors.
