The sentencing of Khalida Jarrar marked the culmination of a case that has attracted widespread attention. Jarrar is a popular figure in the West Bank and known for her fiery speeches against Israel.
Jarrar was arrested last April in a raid on her home for allegedly violating Israeli travel restrictions that barred her from Ramallah, the West Bank city where her family lives. She was subsequently charged with incitement and membership in an illegal organization.
Palestinians say Khalida Jarrar, who is in her early 50s and the mother of two grown daughters who are pursuing advanced university degrees in Canada, was prosecuted for political reasons. They say the evidence against her was flimsy and that she poses no threat to public safety.
Israel's military courts try Palestinians charged with security offenses against Israel under a separate legal system from the one that serves Israelis. Critics say that Palestinians who are tried under the military courts are seldom acquitted and many, fearing they have little chance of proving their innocence, opt to accept the shorter sentences offered in plea bargains.
Khalida Jarrar is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, left-leaning Palestinian faction that opposes peace with Israel. The group, which was involved in hijackings and other attacks in the 1970s, has scaled back its militant activities in recent years.
Khalida Jarrar is also an outspoken feminist activist who was involved in a Palestinian bid to press for war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court. She has criticized the Palestinian Authority for its security cooperation with Israel, which has continued even during the past three months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting
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