Akram Haniya, editor of the East Jerusalem Arabic daily A-Shaab, was deported Sunday after dropping his appeal to the Supreme Court against the expulsion order.
Haniya was put aboard a Swissair flight to Zurich at Ben Gurion Airport and is believed en route to Algeria. He surprised his supporters and accusers alike Friday when he dropped his appeal, charging that he was “a victim of political revenge.”
He said he decided not to fight deportation after the high court ruled last week that virtually all of the evidence compiled against him was classified information that could not be made available to his attorneys. This meant in effect that Haniya could not defend himself because he did not know what to defend against.
In a statement to his lawyers, he said: “I am a victim of political revenge for my struggle as a political person, as a journalist and as a writer, to achieve the legitimate rights of my people.”
The Israeli authorities who brought charges against Haniya claimed he was a senior political activist of El Fatah, the military wing of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and a conduit for PLO funds and orders. He denied the charges. The authorities conceded there was no evidence to link Haniya to terrorist acts.
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