BRITISH-BORN Palestinian Bara Abudheir should be starting his Masters in computer animation at Bournemouth University next month.

Instead, the 26-year-old could be spending years behind the bars of an Israeli jail — charged with a series of “offences” his family say are absurd.

His father Farid spoke to the Morning Star. The story that emerges — one of arbitrary arrest, trumped-up charges and forced confessions — will sadly be a familiar one to millions of Palestinians.

Bara is not well placed to stand up to the rigours of Israeli interrogation.

Aged two, he fractured his skull falling from a 20-foot bridge in Nablus. Farid, who was completing a PhD at Leeds University, rushed him back to England for treatment.

He suffered heavy head injuries including bleeding from the brain, leading to partial paralysis alongside speech and memory loss.

After three years of treatment at St James’ Hospital, Bara improved and eventually regained his physical abilities.

But the head injuries left their mark — Bara is described as “introverted and solitary” and, like many brain injury survivors, has difficulties with concentration and social interaction.

Farid and his wife have four children, but have always particularly worried about Bara’s future given the early scare for his life.

Even so — aside from the everyday hardships of living under occupation — his prospects seemed bright until a few months ago.

A diligent student, his Masters offer from Bournemouth offered him a chance to achieve his dream — “to become a 3D character artist and work with top artists around the world to create movies and games,” Farid says.

Bara has never before been under suspicion from the Israeli occupiers or noted for any political activity.

“He doesn’t even know who the Israeli prime minister is,” according to his father.

Like most young people his concerns were based around finding work and forging a career for himself.

Since graduating from An-Najah University in 2014, he has tried to gain experience in media and animation, which led him to travel to Jordan where he did an internship at a television station.

When Farid was invited to participate in an international conference in Finland, his flight passed through Istanbul.

Having family in the ancient Turkish city, he suggested Bara accompany him that far and stay with relatives while looking for further work experience.

His son stayed a month in Turkey searching for relevant courses and going to job interviews but was unable to find work.

On receiving the offer from Bournemouth, however, he decided to return home to the West Bank so he could obtain his visa from the British consulate.

It was May 30 when Bara arrived at the Israel-Jordan border and Farid didn't expect any serious trouble on hearing that Bara had been delayed by the Israeli authorities.

This is hardly unusual for young people at the crossing, and Bara himself told him over the phone he was sure he would be released immediately.

But later that evening Bara called his mother to say he was under arrest.

He has now been in custody for over two months. His lawyer and Farid have both sought to impress on the Israeli authorities that the severity of his childhood injuries and his subsequent inability to “endure pressure, offence, torture and humiliation in these investigations.”

Indeed, Bara has attempted to slit his own wrists while in prison. But the Israeli authorities say he has been examined by Israeli doctors and deemed mentally and physically fit to stand trial.

Since his attempt on his life, the court has extended his remand three times, each lasting eight days.

No actual charges were levelled for weeks, but from his cell Bara has issued three statements, the first two of which denied all accusations of “having contact with enemies” and anti-Israel organisations.

Bara’s third statement, worryingly, contained completely different information, admitting various offences.

Immediately following this he explained to the judge that he had been forced to confess to things he had not done.

Farid recalls his son in court “in complete astonishment and severe breakdown — crying heavily.”

The judge requested a fourth statement be issued "with no pressure” on Bara because conflicting versions of events made it impossible to
proceed.

But Israel’s intelligence agency Shin Bet later declared there was no need for a fourth statement since “there is no new information or anything Bara has to add.”

Four charges have now emerged. First, that he is a member of an “enemy organisation” — Hamas.

Second, participation in activities run by an “enemy organisation” — in this case the Islamic Bloc, Hamas’s student wing.

Third, contacting members of an “enemy organisation” — Hamas again — while in Turkey, and fourth, planning military attacks on Israeli soldiers with people he met in Turkey.

Farid says he is “shocked” by the accusations and has no doubt that they are “illusions fabricated by the investigators.
“I have no doubt that Bara is a victim of their tactics and their horrible pressure.”

Indeed, a handwritten statement from Bara said he would confess in order to end the interrogation period.

In court he stated that he had given the authorities what they wanted “on a golden plate” and pleaded not to be taken back to the cells.

And in a further court hearing on August 2 he rejected all the charges as untrue.

The accusations themselves rest on the flimsiest evidence. The link to Islamic Bloc is supposedly that Bara attended a course on the Quran while at university years ago.

Since Hamas is one of the biggest political parties in Palestine, it is hardly possible to grow up without encountering any of its supporters. Every single Palestinian could be arrested on such grounds.

Similarly, his family say the two “Hamas members” Bara contacted in Turkey were an old school friend and a contact he asked to help him find a job. Those who know Bara say he has never been political, and even if people he asked for help do turn out to be Hamas members it doesn’t mean he has ever supported the organisation.

If convicted, Bara could face a sentence of 40 months behind bars and a lifetime of persecution based on a criminal record for things he never did.

Lawyers have advised Farid that justice for his son is unlikely, saying instead they should seek to win a more lenient sentence. His father says he is “going haywire” with worry.

“The scenario makes me crazy,” he tells the Star. “Bara’s future, that we’ve been working for for 26 years, is fading away.

“Bara is having this horrible experience and my hands are tied, unable to help him.”

You can help Bara Abudheir by signing the change.org petition calling on the Israeli authorities to release Bara at mstar.link/BaraAbudheir, and by writing to your MP asking for his case to be raised by the British authorities.