Arab Israeli ex-lawmaker heads to prison with ‘pride’

Arab Israeli ex-lawmaker heads to prison with 'pride' | iNFOnews.ca
FILE -- In this Monday, Dec. 26, 2016 file photo, Arab Israeli lawmaker Basel Ghattas waves as he enters a magistrate courtroom in Rishon Lezion. Avichai Mendelblit, Israel's attorney general, said Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017, that he's decided to indict Ghattas for smuggling cellphones to Palestinians in prison serving sentences for security offenses. Mendelblit's office issued a statement that he will charge Ghattas, of the Balad faction, with prohibited use of property for terrorist purposes as well as fraud and breach of trust. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)

JERUSALEM – An Arab Israeli former lawmaker entered prison with “pride” Sunday as he began a two-year sentence for smuggling cellphones to Palestinian prisoners.

Basel Ghattas said he was entering prison with his “head held high” and with “support from my people.”

Earlier this year an Israeli court accepted a plea bargain in which Ghattas resigned from parliament and admitted to smuggling phones and SIM cards to Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Israel’s Arab minority holds citizenship but faces discrimination in some areas like housing and jobs. They are sometimes viewed with suspicion as many identify politically and culturally with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

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Abbey Westbury

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