Last update - 00:00 30/01/2007
Journalist gets community service for leading group trip to Syria
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Tuesday sentenced a former journalist from Majd al-Krum who organized a youth group trip to Syria in 2001 to a four-month suspended jail term, which will be commuted to a year and a half of community service.
Muhi a-Din Halaila organized the trip despite knowing that it is illegal to to visit Syria, as it is still technically in a state of war with Israel.
Halalia was interrogated by police on the eve of his departure and posted NIS 10,000 bail pledging not to go to Syria without permission. However, on April 21 he left for a week long visit to Syria with the group.
Visiting Syria without permission endangers Israel's national security and needs to be punished in order to deter others, the prosecution claimed.
The defense attorneys fought for their client to be given a suspended sentence, claiming the visit was organized out of humanitarian and familial motivations. Halaila had already been under house arrest for a substantial period of time.
Judge William Hamed wrote in his verdict that "the violation poses many security risks for the state and must therefore be reasonably punished in a way that will deter the defendant and any potential violators in the future."
Halaial said he accepted the sentencing despite what he called the political nature of the trial.
Police are currently investigating four Israeli Arab MKs who visited Syria without permission: Azmi Bishara, Jamal Zahalka, Wasil Taha and Taleb el-Sana.