Muhammed al Batat
Photo: Sameh Shahin
Muhammed's orphaned children
Photo: Sameh Shahin
Judge refuses to release prisoner for brother's funeral
Palestinian jailed for illegal residence denied temporary release to attend brother’s funeral
The Beer Sheva courthouse refused to release an illegal resident jailed in Israel to attend his brother's funeral.
Opinion
Yona Bargur
Refusal to allow Palestinian father to attend girl's funeral heartless
The brother, Muhammed al Batat was a resident of the Palestinian village of Dahariya, near Hebron, who was shot and killed by a security guard in Beer Sheva on Saturday.
Police are still investigating the circumstances of the shooting. It is suspected that the victim and perpetrator had previous dealings.
Several of the victim's family members were arrested in the same neighborhood in Beer Sheva for illegal residence in Israel. Among them, his brother Mahmoud was sentenced to four months in prison.
The family petitioned the court to release Muhammad's brother for the day of the funeral and the following three days of mourning.
A cousin, Osama, told Ynet: "I told the judge that I was willing to put down collateral and said that our family members who are Arab-Israeli were also willing to do so in order to let Mahmoud attend the funeral and days of mourning."
"The judge said that, as far as she was concerned, the territories were 'foreign lands' and if Mahmoud were not to return, it would be difficult to go get him," the cousin added.
