Daniel Pinner Update from IsraelNationalNews.com

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Disengagement Activist Jailed Since June Speaks Out from Prison 16:00 Dec 01, '05 / 29 Cheshvan 5766By Debbie Berman

Daniel Pinner of Kfar Tapuach has been detained since June on charges that he wounded an Arab on a Gush Katif beach.

Pinner spoke about his experiences and his frustration with his treatment by the General Security Services (GSS) in a telephone interview from Maasiyahu Prison with Avi Hyman, on the Activist Hour.

Pinner, 38 and unmarried, was in Gush Katif to volunteer his services as a licensed electrician in fixing up the Palm Beach Hotel when the following incident transpired.

"Toward the last days of Gush Katif on June 22nd, I went for a walk on the beach by myself, when about 50 Arabs throwing rocks attacked me,” Pinner recalled. “I was carrying an Uzi so I shot in the air. After a few yards they began throwing rocks again so I fired several more shots in the air. The Arabs then backed off and I went back to the hotel.

"Four days later I was arrested at home, with the police claiming that I had shot one of the Arabs and wounded him. First they said in the chest, later it turned out that there was an Arab who claimed to have been shot in the leg. Because of that I am in jail almost six months," explained Daniel.

Pinner says that the shots he fired in the air were meant to defend his life against the real danger of the stone throwing Arab mob that descended upon him. "My life was clearly in danger. One of the Jews not far from me was hit by a rock. I knew I was within range of the Arabs throwing rocks," he stated.

According to Pinner, the evidence presented by the Arab who was allegedly shot is very weak. "The Arab claimed to have been hit by an Uzi and brought a medical report from Khan Yunis Hospital, which described an alleged gunshot injury,” Pinner said. “The entry and exit wounds were listed as 1 centimeter by 1 centimeter. You don’t need to be a medical expert to know that a bullet is much bigger when it leaves the body than when it enters, which means that the wound described in the medical report is clearly not a gunshot wound."

As to why he is still in prison despite his innocence, Pinner said, "At every stage the judges continue to claim that I am a danger to society. I think the real reason I am still in jail is that at the very first hearing all those months ago I was denied any legal representation, held incommunicado for five days and there was a total news blackout on the basis of a request from the Shabak…My arrest was extended ten days originally, then fifteen and so on and so on based on a secret Shabak report which I have not seen and probably will never see."

Pinner described the horrific conditions under which he was held, particularly during his first eight days spent in the Shabak interrogation dungeons. "The physical conditions were grim. The cell was 2 by 2.5 meters, with no window, gray walls, a toilet (which was just a hole in the ground), a sink, a chair and that’s it in the entire cell. No bed," he recalled. "Now I am being held in an open wing, with big rooms. After the Shabak treatment, it feels like being released, but obviously it is very far from real freedom," Pinner added.

Despite his frustration with the system, Pinner remains hopeful about his situation. "Obviously I will be released one day. It’s impossible to tell if it’ll be in a week, or a month or a few years. The next stage is set for December 15th. The indications are that I’m coming to the end of the trial. In the meantime all I can do is wait," he said.

"When the justice system is distorted, when justice is perverted, that is the time when only G-d himself can remove our suffering. I hope that no other Jew will feel this on his flesh, but in the meantime this is the unfortunate reality we're living in," Pinner concluded.

Daniel Pinner said he would appreciate messages from supporters via voicemail at 03-906-8079 (+972-3-906-8079 from outside Israel) or by regular mail at: Daniel Pinner- Maasiyahu Prison, POB 13 72100, Disengagement Wing.

He asks for prayers for Daniel Moshe Tzvi ben (son of) Channah Malka Fayge.

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