Anti-wall activists freed as detentions persist

Ma'an
Following months of detention without charge in an Israeli prison, anti-wall activists Mohammad Othman and Jamal Juma have been released, a statement from the senior campaign officer said on Saturday...

Juma and Othman work for Stop the Wall, an organization opposed to Israel's construction of the separation wall, which severely limits Palestinians' freedom of movement and leads to the confiscation of agricultural land. Their detention was part of Israel's ongoing crackdown on anti-wall activists...

Night Raids, Threats and Arrests of West Bank Popular Leaders

According to a statement released by Jonathan Pollack, an Israeli peace activist, two popular committee members' houses were raided by Israeli soldiers in the village of Al-Ma'sara and surrounded the homes of Popular Committee Against the Wall members Mohammed Barjiya and Mahmoud Zwahre on Friday. The Bethlehem village is the site of weekly anti-wall demonstrations.

On Thursday Saed Yaqim, member of the Palestinian National Committee Against the Wall and Al-Quds University lecturer was detained from his home in Beit Duqqu, northwest Jerusalem.

"Both Barjiya and Zwahre were warned about that repercussions will follow if they do not stop organizing protests in the village. Zwahre was even threatened that a child may end up dead," the statement said

"Yaqim's arrest is a direct continuation of a recent Israeli wave of arrests aimed to suppress the Palestinian unarmed struggle. Thursday's arrest follows the detention of three members of the Popular Committee in the village of Ni'iln and a long-standing arrest campaign in the village of Bil'in."

The statement noted that since 16 December 2009, the Israeli army has staged 12 night incursions into Ni'ilin. Similar raids have been conducted in the village of Bil'in, where 34 residents have been arrested in the past six months, in addition to the cities of Nablus, Ramallah and East Jerusalem.

Among those arrested in the recent campaign are five members of the Bil'in Popular Committee, all suspected of incitement, and include Adeeb Abu Rahmah - who has already been held in detention for almost six months and Abdallah Abu Rahmah – the Bil'in Popular Committee coordinator.  Full story