Israel Arab sentenced to jail for 'incitement' with poems

An Israeli court today sentenced an Arab woman to five months in prison for incitement to violence and support for a terrorist organisation in poems and other social media posts, the justice ministry said.

Dareen Tatour, 36 and an Israeli citizen, posted a video clip of herself reading her poem "Resist, my people, resist them," in October 2015, accompanied by pictures of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces, according to authorities.

The posts on YouTube and Facebook came as a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence was erupting, including Palestinian knife attacks.

She was convicted in May and sentenced in the Nazareth district court. Her lawyer Gaby Lasky was expected to appeal.

Her prosecution has drawn international criticism.

International writers group Pen has defended Tatour, saying she "has been convicted for doing what writers do every day -- we use our words to peacefully challenge injustice."
The poem was quoted in Hebrew in the charge sheet, but according to an English translation on the Arabic literature and translation site ArabLit, it contains the following lines: "For an Arab Palestine, I will not succumb to the 'peaceful solution,' Never lower my flags, Until I evict them from my land, Resist the settler's robbery, And follow the caravan of martyrs."