Jonathan Pollak, activista israelí: "Iré a prisión con la cabeza bien alta"

Pollak fue el único detenido en la protesta mencionada y fue acusado por ir en bicicleta, igual que el resto de manifestantes. Esta condena, ha reactivado una antigua condena de tres meses que Pollak ya tenía en su historial y que estaba suspendida fruto de un juicio previo por sus acciones de protesta en contra de la construcción del muro. Deberá cumplirse junto con la actual.

Fiel a sus convicciones, Pollak, en su sentencia manifestó "No soy capaz de expresar remordimientos en este caso (...). Si su Señoría decide imponerme mi sentencia suspendida, iré a prisión con el corazón lleno de convencimiento y con la cabeza bien alta. Es el mismo sistema judicial, creo, que debería bajar los ojos hacia las caras de los ciudadanos de Gaza que son los que sufren, tal y como baja los ojos y fija la mirada cada día cuando afronta las realidades de la ocupación. " Adjunto, al final del documento, se pueden ver las declaraciones completas de Pollak (*, en inglés)

El 31 de enero de 2008, alrededor de 30 manifestantes participaron en una bicicletada alrededor de las calles de Tel Aviv como protesta del sitio de Gaza. Durante la manifestación, Pollak fue arrestado por la policía secreta, que lo reconocieron de otras acciones y lo detuvieron argumentando que era el organizador y cabeza visible de la acción. La bicicletada pudo continuar sin ningún incidente una vez Pollak fue detenido.
El arresto y la posterior condena fue fruto de las conjeturas de la policía más que como consecuencia de la actitud o comportamiento de Pollak. Él formaba parte de la comitiva y actuaba igual que el resto de participantes, pero el señalaron. Además, en Tel Aviv, se llevan a cabo este tipo de acciones protesta de forma regular sin ningún tipo de intervención policial. Otras protestas, que han provocado problemas de tráfico como por ejemplo circulación masiva de miles de motocicletas por las calles de el Aviv, no han llevado ningún tipo de consecuencia y por supuesto, no han supuesto ninguna detención ni cargos criminal. El abogado de Pollak, Gaby Lasky, declaró que "La policía no sólo ha identificado Pollak entre una multitud que hacía lo mismo que él, sino que además la ha señalado como organizador únicamente por sus convicciones políticas. Eventos similares han pasado en Tel Aviv sin detención ni acusación ".

(*argumentos de Pollak):

Your Honor, once found guilty, it is then customary for the accused to ask the court for leniency, and express remorse for having committed the offence. However, I find myself unable to do so. From its very beginning, this trial contained practically no disagreements over the facts. As the indictment states, I indeed rode my bicycle, alongside others, through the streets of Tel Aviv, to protest the siege on Gaza. And indeed, while riding our bicycles, which are legally vehicles belonging on the road, we may have slightly slowed down traffic. The sole and trivial disagreement in this entire case revolves around testimonies heard from police detectives, who claimed I played a leading role throughout the protest bicycle ride, something I, as well as the rest of the Defense witnesses, deny.

As said earlier, it is customary at this point of the proceedings to sound remorseful, and I would indeed like to voice my regrets regarding one particular aspect of that day's events: if there is remorse in my heart, it is that, just as I argued during the trial, I did not play a prominent role in the protest that day, and thus did not fulfill my duty to do everything within my power to change the unbearable situation of Gaza's inhabitants, and bring to an end Israel's control over the Palestinians.

His Honor has stated during the court case, and will most likely state again in the future, that a trial is not a matter of politics, but of law. To this I reply that there is hardly anything to this trial except political disagreement. This Court may have impeded the mounting of an appropriate defense when it refused to hear arguments regarding political selectiveness in the Police's conduct, but even from the testimonies which were admitted, it became clear such a selectiveness exists.

The subject of my alleged offense, as well as the motivation behind it were political. This is something that cannot be sidestepped. The State of Israel maintains an illegitimate, inhuman and illegal siege on the Gaza Strip, which still is occupied territory according to international law. This siege, carried out in my name and in yours as well, sir, in fact in all of our names, is a cruel collective punishment inflicted on ordinary citizens, residents of the Gaza strip, subjects-without-rights under Israeli occupation.

In the face of this reality, and as a stance against it, we chose on January 31st, 2008, to exercise the freedom of speech afforded to Jewish citizens of Israel. However, it appears that here in our one-of-many-faux-democracies in the Middle East, even this freedom is no longer freely granted, even to society's privileged sons.

I am not surprised by the Court's decision to convict me despite having no doubt in my mind that our actions on that day correspond to the most basic, elementary definitions of a person's right to protest.

Indeed, as the Prosecution pointed out, a suspended prison sentence hung over my head at the time of the bicycle protest, having been convicted before under an identical article of law. And, although I still maintain I did not commit any offense whatsoever, I was aware of the possibility that under Israeli justice, my suspended sentence would be imposed.

I must add that, if His Honor decides to go ahead and impose my suspended prison sentence, I will go to prison wholeheartedly and with my head held high. It will be the justice system itself, I believe, that ought to lower its eyes in the face of the suffering inflicted on Gaza's inhabitants, just like it lowers its eyes and averts its vision each and every day when faced with the realities of the occupation.”