PA to hang man for 'collaborating' with Israel [stopping terror]

[IMRA: The Israeli "Catch-22" - when Israel provides security information to
the Palestinians to try and stop a terror attack the Palestinians are more
interested in capturing and punishing the Palestinian source of the security
information than they are in capturing the terrorists.]

Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST Oct. 17, 2004
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=109791
5022726&p=1078397702269

A Palestinian man was sentenced to death by hanging on Saturday after being
found guilty of "collaborating" with Israel. Another three Palestinians were
sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years to 10 years on the same
charges.
Yusef Hassan Sinwar, 31, of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, was convicted by
a Palestinian Authority civil court of assisting the IDF in tracking down
and killing wanted activists. In passing the death sentence, the first by
the PA in two and a half years, the judges noted that he had "undermined the
power of resistance of the Palestinian people by serving as a collaborator
with the enemy."

Sinwar was arrested in October 2001 by the PA's General Intelligence Force
in the Gaza Strip. This is the first time that a Palestinian accused of
collaboration with Israel is sentenced to death by hanging. In the past,
Palestinians convicted of the same charges were sentenced to death by a
firing squad.

Sinwar was one of the four defendants who appeared before the Gaza court.
His verdict requires the approval of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, who over the
past three years has refrained from endorsing executions, following protests
from human rights organizations.

The court sentenced Muhammad al-Hasanat, 29, of the Jabalya refugee camp, to
10 years in prison and a NIS 10,000 fine after ruling that he was guilty of
collaborating with Israel.

Hasanat has been in detention since January 2003. The court accepted his
lawyer's argument that his actions did not lead to the killing of any
person.

Amer Abu Aysheh, 39, of the Nasr neighborhood of Gaza City, was sentenced to
five years in prison and a NIS 5,000 fine. He was arrested earlier this
year, but was released on bail pending his trial.

The fourth suspect, Yasser Abdel Samad al-Masri, 20, of the Nusseirat
refugee camp, was sentenced to three years in prison and a NIS 5,000 fine.

He was arrested in March 2004 and accused of agreeing to serve as an
informant for Israel. The court justified the light sentence by pointing out
that Masri had been arrested 24 hours after being recruited by the Shin Bet.

Although the PA has refrained from carrying out executions of suspected
collaborators over the past three years, many of those arrested were
eventually killed by Fatah or Hamas gunmen.

The latest extra-judicial killing occurred in Ramallah on October 7, when
Fatah gunmen raided a hospital and kidnapped 51-year-old Sami Burnat. His
bullet-riddled body was found a few hours later near the Al-Amari refugee
camp.

Burnat was being held by the PA security forces on charges of selling land
to Jews about 20 years ago. He was taken to hospital after being severely
tortured during interrogation. Another suspected collaborator who was being
escorted to court by PA policemen in Ramallah was shot and killed by masked
gunmen.

Sources in Gaza City told The Jerusalem Post that at least 60
"collaborators" are awaiting trial for allegedly passing on information to
the Shin Bet about the whereabouts of wanted activists.