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Australian Doctor Sentenced to Ten Years Jail by Lebanese Military Tribunal

Phil Mercer

   SYDNEY - A prominent physician in Australia's Lebanese Muslim
   communitysayshe has been sentenced to 10 yearsprison in absentia in
   Lebanon.Dr.JamalRifihas been working with members of Sydney's Jewish
   community as part of a program toorganizetreatment for Palestinians in
   Israeli hospitals.

   Since2017, Dr.JamalRifihas worked with Jewish groups in Australia on
   Project Rozana. It is a humanitarian organizationthat helps train
   Palestinian medical workers andassistsin transferring Palestinian
   patients, includingsick children,from Gaza andPalestinianTerritories
   for treatment in Israeli hospitals.

   Dr.Rifi, who moved to Australiaalmost 40-yearsago to study medicine,
   has also worked to help the fragile Palestinian health system during
   the COVID-19 pandemic byprovidingventilators.In 2017,hewas awarded a
   Medal of the Order of Australia, a prestigious civic honor.His
   brotherin Lebanon, Ashraf Rifi,informed him thathe has been punishedfor
   his charity work in absentia because of his association with Jewish
   groups.

   Dr.Rifitold the Australian Broadcasting Corp. the news was deeply
   unsettling.

   "The Lebanese military tribunal sentenced me to ten years' imprisonment
   for being a collaborator and a traitor with the enemy.Nobody wants to
   be labelled as a traitor and I am reallyupset,and it is a distraction
   from the workthatI am doing right now, and thisis a reflection ofthe
   Lebanese corrupt system," Rifi said.

   The sentence means Dr.Rificannot return to visit family in Lebanon.He
   believes the verdict against him could also be part ofsinister domestic
   politics in Lebanon.

   His brotherhappens to bethe former director-general of the Lebanese
   Internal Security Forces, and a fierce critic of Hezbollah, according
   to media reports.Lebanon's Hezbollah,an Iranian-backedShia Islamist
   political,militaryand social organization,hasbeen accused of
   havinginfluence in Lebanon's politics.Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah,has
   deniedin the pastthat the group hassuchinfluence.The group is a sworn
   enemy of Israel.

   About 230,000 Australians have Lebanese ancestry, according to official
   figures.Most are Christians, and around 40%are Muslims.

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