Israelis say EU attack on court ruling 'improper': report

(JERUSALEM) - An Israeli official has lashed out at EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton for questioning the conviction of a Palestinian activist, calling her comments "highly improper," the Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday.

An Israeli military court on Wednesday convicted 39-year-old Abdullah Abu Rahma of organising and attending banned demonstrations against Israel's West Bank separation barrier in the village of Bilin.

Sentencing is to be delivered at a later date.

A statement issued by Ashton's office after the hearing expressed her concern "that the possible imprisonment of Mr Abu Rahma is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest against the existence of the separation barriers in a non-violent manner."

The Post quoted Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor as saying that Ashton should either honour the court ruling or join Abu Rahma's legal team.

"She should respect the ruling of the Israeli justice system, and refrain from casting aspersions on a legal system that is lauded worldwide by its peers," he said.

"Moreover, interfering with a transparent legal procedure of a democratic country is not just highly improper, but is hardly consistent with promoting European values," he was quoted as saying.

Palmor could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Regular demonstrations by Palestinian activists and foreign supporters staged for the past several years in Bilin and nearby Nilin, both close to the city of Ramallah, are billed as non-violent.

But they frequently turn into clashes between rock-throwing Palestinian youths and Israeli troops firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Israel says the barrier -- a network of walls, fences and closed military roads -- is designed to prevent attacks against the Jewish state and Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians view it as an "apartheid wall" that carves off key parts of their promised future state.