Since the July 2015 arson attack on the Dawabshe family’s house in Kfar Duma, Honenu has assisted many Jews accused of involvement with the crime. For a selection of posts describing Honenu Attorneys’ representation of Amiram Ben Uliel, click here, and for a selection of posts about other defendants and GSS interrogees, click here. To familiarize our readers with the case, Honenu has gathered – click here – various articles and short videos on the subject.
Monday, April 3, 2023, 12:58 Honenu director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad wrote a letter to the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, the Rishon L’Tzion, asking them to act for the release of Amiram Ben Uliel from solitary confinement to take part in the Passover Seder with other prisoners. Ben Uliel was sentenced to three life sentences plus 17 years’ imprisonment following his conviction in the deadly Kfar Duma arson case. The sentence was based solely on his confession, which was extracted by the GSS after interrogation under extreme duress, a euphemism for torture. There is no corroborating evidence.
In his letter, Meidad described Ben Uliel’s extreme prison conditions: “Amiram Ben Uliel, a young married yeshiva student, and father of a daughter, has been imprisoned for seven and a half years, under the most severe conditions of any prisoner in the State of Israel. He is in solitary confinement, in a small cell, with no human contact, not with visitors from outside and not even with other prisoners. It seems as if they are trying to deprive him of his sanity. Amiram was convicted in the Kfar Duma arson trial in one of the most absurd rulings that the State of Israel has known.”
“However, it is not on the matter of his conviction that I am writing to you, esteemed Chief Rabbis. In honor of the upcoming Holiday of Freedom [Passover], I ask you to do everything within your power to ensure that Amiram will at least sit at a festive table in the company of other prisoners on the Seder night. Allow him to ease his isolation, if only slightly, and allow him the feeling, if only partially and temporarily, of freedom and happiness on a Jewish holiday.”
Several days ago, a campaign was launched (see flier above) petitioning the Prison Service to allow Amiram Ben Uliel out of his cell to celebrate Passover with the rest of the prisoners. Dozens of rabbis signed the petition. Additionally, activists from “Justice for Amiram!” are planning to hold a Passover Seder outside of Eshel Prison, where Amiram Ben Uliel has been held under almost completely solitary conditions for over seven years.
The activists distributed fliers under the banner “Justice for Amiram!” and reported increasing interest by individuals and families to participate in the seder outside of the prison. The fliers read: “Amiram’s in prison? So am I. Extracting confessions by torture is by Mafia style, not by fair trial!”