Matan Cohen legal appeal – £5,000 needed

Readers of JfJfP.com may recall the case of Matan Cohen, a young refusenik who almost lost an eye after being shot in the face by a tear gas canister on a demonstration in the West Bank village of Bil’in. He brought a court case to highlight the violence meted out to such demonstrations by the Israeli security forces. As he writes below, not only was the lawsuit dismissed, the judge imposed a fine of around £13,500, accusing Matan of bringing a “frivolous” lawsuit. Notwithstanding the judge’s lack of comprehension of what is just and what is not, Matan urgently needs to raise £5,000 as a deposit in order to appeal against the ruling. If you can afford to make a donation, the bank account details are below, after the text of Matan’s short letter.

Thanks.

Dear friends,

On 19 November, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled against me in the lawsuit regarding my injury during a protest in the West Bank in February, 2006. (I was shot, together with 14 others, with several bullets, one of which hit my eye, and partially blinded me).

See Ha’aretz article

Not only that, the judge also ruled I pay some 78,000NIS ($20,000) in compensation, as they deemed it a “frivolous lawsuit.” I did not expect justice from an apartheid regime, nor did I receive any.  Still we must use whatever mean are available to us even in this corrupt system to fight this fine.

As we stand to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, in the next 10 days, we urgently require 30,000NIS ($8,000)- the deposit demanded for
the appeal.

If we don’t have it in the next few days, we won’t be able to appeal.

What is requested right now is a bridge-loan, as we have some money the Israeli Army is withholding, and we expect to receive in the next
few weeks, at which point the loan could be repaid.

While feeling down personally at the moment, this case only reaffirms my belief that it’s up to all of us to put an end to it.

In solidarity,

matan

Bank details: Poalim Bank (12); Branch: Raanana (661); A/c no: 584364; A/c holder name: Ronnie Barkan.

Update (Saturday 4th Sept): Transfers can also be made via Swift/IBAN:
Account: IL71-0126-6100-0000-0584-364
Name: BARKAN RONIE
Bank SWIFT Name: POALILIT