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Jerusalem Woman Deemed Fit to Stand Trial for ‘pig Posters’

August 14, 1997
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Psychiatrists have determined that the Israeli woman accused of pasting posters on West Bank storefronts depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammed as a pig is mentally fit to stand trial.

Tatyana Suskin, 26, faces 26 years in prison for her actions. She is charged with committing a racist act, harming religious sensitivities and supporting a terrorist group.

Suskin, who immigrated from Russia six years ago, was arrested in late June while throwing stones at Palestinian cars and stores in Hebron. She had dozens of the posters in her possession at the time of the arrest.

After spotting the posters in Hebron, dozens of Palestinians rioted, ending what had been a period of relative calm in the tense West Bank city.

The posters stirred angry reactions from Hebron to Tehran, as Muslims throughout the world condemned the act.

Israeli President Ezer Weizman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also condemned the posters.

At her arraignment, Suskin told journalists that she did not care about worldwide reactions to her action.

Suskin, who lives in Jerusalem, identifies with the outlawed Kach movement of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the territories.

She had been arrested by police several times in the past for misdemeanors, such as riding a bus with a forged monthly ticket, or provoking Muslim guards on the Temple Mount by wearing a Kach T-shirt.

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