A general view shows a mosque and apartments in the West Bank city of Ramallah in this September, 2011 file photo.MOHAMAD TOROKMAN/Reuters
A wealthy Jordanian-Canadian businessman who has been held for more than two weeks by Israeli security without charge or legal counsel may be suffering from ill health made worse by his incarceration.
Ibrahim Siyam, 58, who has dual Canadian and Jordanian citizenship, was detained by security forces on May 5 as he tried to cross to Jordan from the Israeli-occupied West Bank after speaking in Ramallah at a conference on economic development in the Palestinian territories.
An Israeli official told Reuters that Mr. Siyam, who was born in the West Bank but left the territory decades ago, was being held on suspicion of having links to Hamas, the militant Islamic resistance movement that controls the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
"He appears to be a very sick man," Avi Bar-Am, a lawyer who represented Mr. Siyam before a military panel and the Israeli Supreme Court, told The Globe and Mail. Mr. Bar-Am has not been allowed to speak with his client.
"I was 10 metres away from him at the military hearing and he did not look well," said Mr. Bar-Am, referring to a military process that took place more than a week ago at which his client's incarceration was extended.
At a subsequent hearing on Sunday before the Israeli Supreme Court, at which Mr. Bar-Am unsuccessfully sought access to his client, the lawyer was assured that Mr. Siyam was being cared for. "A judge said, 'A doctor is with him at all times.' That just made me concerned he really is sick."
Mr. Bar-Am said he would appeal again to the Supreme Court on Wednesday for access to his client. "It's now been more than two weeks that he's been held," the lawyer said. "If they had any evidence against him they would have produced it by now.… they wouldn't close the door to me this way."
What Mr. Bar-Am fears is that the internal security forces, known as the Shin Bet or Shabak, are trying to extract a confession from him, and this may threaten his already fragile health. "Unfortunately, that's the way it works sometimes," he said.
"They do it a lot," he added. "Under the title of 'security' even the Supreme Court can't do anything."
Mr. Bar-Am, who was retained by Mr. Siyam's family, said he has spoken to security officials in the Palestinian Authority, who assured him Mr. Siyam is clean.
"They told me: 'If he was linked to Hamas, we'd have known about it,'" the lawyer said. "'If he was linked to Hamas, we'd have arrested him ourselves,' they said."
The Palestinian Authority, under President Mahmoud Abbas, is staunchly opposed to Hamas and holds hundreds of Hamas members in Palestinian prisons.
Mr. Bar-Am said he's trying to understand why the security service would have arrested his client, who owns a successful auto-parts business in Jordan that distributes its products internationally. A foundation Mr. Siyam established recently donated thousands of backpacks to school children in Gaza.
"The only thing I can think of is that his passport shows he was born in Palestine," said Mr. Bar-Am. That would have made him stand out from the other business people with whom he was travelling, he speculated.
The day-long conference was held under the auspices of the Palestinian American Chamber of Commerce. It brought together several notable Arab business people from inside and outside the West Bank to brainstorm about ways to enhance the struggling Palestinian economy.
Mr. Bar-Am's talk was about the opportunity to develop tourism and bring larger numbers of visitors to the territory.
Israel has detained a Palestinian with dual Canadian and Jordanian citizenship suspected of links with the Islamist group Hamas, an Israeli security official told Reuters on Monday.
The official, who could not be named, said Ibrahim Siam was detained on May 5 at the Allenby Bridge as he tried to cross into Jordan from the Israeli-occupied West Bank.