8 mar 2017
28-year-old Mansour Darwish, beaten by Israeli police after attempting to welcome his cousin home from prison
Five Palestinians said they were pulled from their vehicles, violently assaulted, and detained by Israeli forces at a checkpoint in occupied East Jerusalem, after returning home from southern Israel where they had attempted to welcome home their relative who had just been released from Israeli prison.
Moussa Darwish was set to be released from Ktziot prison in the Negev region on Sunday after completing a 12-year sentence, but the newly freed man found Israeli intelligence officers waiting for him outside the prison, who immediately redetained him.
Israeli forces prevented the group of family and friends from approaching Darwish, after they had traveled from Issawiya in East Jerusalem and arrived to the prison.
They were notified that Darwish had been taken to Israel’s Russian Compound detention center back in West Jerusalem for interrogation. After several hours, Israeli forces again released Darwish.
However, Darwish’s friends and relatives -- Ahmad Darwish, 52, Ibrahim Darwish, 42, Mansour Darwish, 28, Muhammad Ubeid, 25, and Saeb Dirbas, 23 -- said that upon their return to Jerusalem, their three vehicles were "ambushed" by Israeli forces who had set up a flying checkpoint at the entrance to the city.
In an interview with Ma’an on Wednesday, Mansour Darwish, the former prisoner's cousin, said that their group encountered a crippling traffic jam caused by the checkpoint.
"When we tried to pass the checkpoint, our cars were stopped one after the other. Without even asking for our IDs or driving licenses, they made us step outside, and officers from the Israeli police special Yasam unit started to beat us violently -- and we had no idea why."
Mansour highlighted that Israeli forces were heavily deployed in and around the checkpoint while police punched and kicked the five men in the face, chest, behind the ears, and other sensitive areas, also beating them with rifle butts and batons.
Five Palestinians said they were pulled from their vehicles, violently assaulted, and detained by Israeli forces at a checkpoint in occupied East Jerusalem, after returning home from southern Israel where they had attempted to welcome home their relative who had just been released from Israeli prison.
Moussa Darwish was set to be released from Ktziot prison in the Negev region on Sunday after completing a 12-year sentence, but the newly freed man found Israeli intelligence officers waiting for him outside the prison, who immediately redetained him.
Israeli forces prevented the group of family and friends from approaching Darwish, after they had traveled from Issawiya in East Jerusalem and arrived to the prison.
They were notified that Darwish had been taken to Israel’s Russian Compound detention center back in West Jerusalem for interrogation. After several hours, Israeli forces again released Darwish.
However, Darwish’s friends and relatives -- Ahmad Darwish, 52, Ibrahim Darwish, 42, Mansour Darwish, 28, Muhammad Ubeid, 25, and Saeb Dirbas, 23 -- said that upon their return to Jerusalem, their three vehicles were "ambushed" by Israeli forces who had set up a flying checkpoint at the entrance to the city.
In an interview with Ma’an on Wednesday, Mansour Darwish, the former prisoner's cousin, said that their group encountered a crippling traffic jam caused by the checkpoint.
"When we tried to pass the checkpoint, our cars were stopped one after the other. Without even asking for our IDs or driving licenses, they made us step outside, and officers from the Israeli police special Yasam unit started to beat us violently -- and we had no idea why."
Mansour highlighted that Israeli forces were heavily deployed in and around the checkpoint while police punched and kicked the five men in the face, chest, behind the ears, and other sensitive areas, also beating them with rifle butts and batons.
52-year-old Ahmad Darwish, pictured with a black eye inflicted by the police beating
The five were then taken to the Russian Compound detention center, and shortly after, Ahmad Darwish, Ibrahim Darwish, and Saeb Dirbas were released.
Mansour Darwish and Muhammad Ubeid remained in detention until the following day on Monday.
Mansour Darwish said that after spending the night in detention, he and Ubeid were taken to court on Monday and the judge decided to release them at a bail of 1,500 shekels (approximately $410) each, and placed them under five-day house arrest.
He stressed that Israeli officers continued to assault the five men while they were being transported to the detention center and also while they were inside the compound.
“At midnight (Monday) when we were referred to a doctor inside the Russian Compound, he refused to treat us even though we had blood running down our faces, which were badly swollen and bruised.”
Only in the early dawn hours of Monday were they sent for treatment at Israel’s Hadassah hospital in West Jerusalem.
The victims told Ma'an that they would file a complaint against Israeli police to the internal investigations department, highlighting that despite accusations from their interrogators that they had "harassed and attacked police officers, were driving very fast, and disobeyed police orders," they had been travelling within the speed limit and were not given any police orders throughout the ordeal with which to comply.
Cases of discrimination, abuse, and mistreatment of Palestinian adults and children by Israeli police in occupied East Jerusalem have been well-documented and widely condemned for years.
Rights groups have also condemned the expansive network of checkpoints and roadblocks enforced by Israeli police across occupied East Jerusalem, disrupting freedom of movement for some 300,000 Palestinians, which Israeli NGO B’Tselem has said amounts to “collective punishment.”
In recent months, Israeli forces have meanwhile escalated a crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem through hundreds of violent overnight raids, handing down harsh prison sentences to local youth, in addition to a demolition of campaign of Palestinian homes as illegal Israeli settlements in the area continue to expand.
Israeli daily Haaretz recently reported that intelligence-gathering raids in East Jerusalem were made in breach of protocol and constituted a violation of residents’ basic rights. The report said that over the course of two months, some 500 Palestinian homes had been raided in East Jerusalem by Israeli police officers who did not present warrants, contrary to proper procedures.
The five were then taken to the Russian Compound detention center, and shortly after, Ahmad Darwish, Ibrahim Darwish, and Saeb Dirbas were released.
Mansour Darwish and Muhammad Ubeid remained in detention until the following day on Monday.
Mansour Darwish said that after spending the night in detention, he and Ubeid were taken to court on Monday and the judge decided to release them at a bail of 1,500 shekels (approximately $410) each, and placed them under five-day house arrest.
He stressed that Israeli officers continued to assault the five men while they were being transported to the detention center and also while they were inside the compound.
“At midnight (Monday) when we were referred to a doctor inside the Russian Compound, he refused to treat us even though we had blood running down our faces, which were badly swollen and bruised.”
Only in the early dawn hours of Monday were they sent for treatment at Israel’s Hadassah hospital in West Jerusalem.
The victims told Ma'an that they would file a complaint against Israeli police to the internal investigations department, highlighting that despite accusations from their interrogators that they had "harassed and attacked police officers, were driving very fast, and disobeyed police orders," they had been travelling within the speed limit and were not given any police orders throughout the ordeal with which to comply.
Cases of discrimination, abuse, and mistreatment of Palestinian adults and children by Israeli police in occupied East Jerusalem have been well-documented and widely condemned for years.
Rights groups have also condemned the expansive network of checkpoints and roadblocks enforced by Israeli police across occupied East Jerusalem, disrupting freedom of movement for some 300,000 Palestinians, which Israeli NGO B’Tselem has said amounts to “collective punishment.”
In recent months, Israeli forces have meanwhile escalated a crackdown on Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem through hundreds of violent overnight raids, handing down harsh prison sentences to local youth, in addition to a demolition of campaign of Palestinian homes as illegal Israeli settlements in the area continue to expand.
Israeli daily Haaretz recently reported that intelligence-gathering raids in East Jerusalem were made in breach of protocol and constituted a violation of residents’ basic rights. The report said that over the course of two months, some 500 Palestinian homes had been raided in East Jerusalem by Israeli police officers who did not present warrants, contrary to proper procedures.
The Israeli prison authority on Tuesday transferred hunger-striking journalist Mohamed al-Qiq to hospital after a sharp decline in his health condition, according to his family.
The journalist’s wife, Fayha Shalash, told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that her husband’s lawyer had been informed yesterday of his transfer to Assaf Harofeh Hospital after health complications.
Shalash said that hospitalizing her husband was an indication of his suffering from serious health deterioration, affirming that his current hunger strike would be different from the previous one.
“Mohamed has staged the current hunger strike while he is still tired and exhausted by the previous one, which lasted about 90 days,” she explained.
34-year-old Qiq has been on hunger strike since February 6 to protest his detention administratively, without indictment or trial.
The Israeli occupation army rearrested Mohamed Qiq on January 15, 2017 and decided to rejail him administratively for three renewable months.
In November 2015, he had staged a hunger strike for 94 days to protest his administrative detention before he extracted a decision to release him on May 19, 2016.
Qiq is a Palestinian journalist and reporter at the Saudi News Agency al-Majd TV Network. He is a father of two children and lives in the village of Abu Qash in Ramallah. He has a master's degree in contemporary Arab studies from Birzeit University.
The journalist’s wife, Fayha Shalash, told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that her husband’s lawyer had been informed yesterday of his transfer to Assaf Harofeh Hospital after health complications.
Shalash said that hospitalizing her husband was an indication of his suffering from serious health deterioration, affirming that his current hunger strike would be different from the previous one.
“Mohamed has staged the current hunger strike while he is still tired and exhausted by the previous one, which lasted about 90 days,” she explained.
34-year-old Qiq has been on hunger strike since February 6 to protest his detention administratively, without indictment or trial.
The Israeli occupation army rearrested Mohamed Qiq on January 15, 2017 and decided to rejail him administratively for three renewable months.
In November 2015, he had staged a hunger strike for 94 days to protest his administrative detention before he extracted a decision to release him on May 19, 2016.
Qiq is a Palestinian journalist and reporter at the Saudi News Agency al-Majd TV Network. He is a father of two children and lives in the village of Abu Qash in Ramallah. He has a master's degree in contemporary Arab studies from Birzeit University.
The Israeli police on Wednesday morning prevented al-Aqsa Mosque personnel from repairing the gate of the Qibli place of worship and arrested two staff members.
The Israeli police arrested al-Aqsa staff members Issa al-Dabagh and engineer Basam al-Halaq as they headed to the Qibli Mosque to repair its entrance gate.
At the same time, 23 Israeli settlers, escorted by police troops, stormed the plazas of al-Aqsa Mosque via the Maghareba Gate as part of the morning break-in shift.
The Israeli settlers performed sacrilegious rituals at the holy site, stirring furor among the Muslim worshipers and sit-inners.
Meanwhile, the Israeli forces broke into al-Rahma Cemetery, adjacent to al-Aqsa Mosque, and prevented Palestinian mourners from digging a grave to bury their Muslim relative.
The Israeli police arrested al-Aqsa staff members Issa al-Dabagh and engineer Basam al-Halaq as they headed to the Qibli Mosque to repair its entrance gate.
At the same time, 23 Israeli settlers, escorted by police troops, stormed the plazas of al-Aqsa Mosque via the Maghareba Gate as part of the morning break-in shift.
The Israeli settlers performed sacrilegious rituals at the holy site, stirring furor among the Muslim worshipers and sit-inners.
Meanwhile, the Israeli forces broke into al-Rahma Cemetery, adjacent to al-Aqsa Mosque, and prevented Palestinian mourners from digging a grave to bury their Muslim relative.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested Tuesday afternoon six Palestinians including a child when clashes broke out near Ofer prison in Ramallah.
Heavy firing of teargas bombs was monitored during the clashes, leaving a number of protesters suffering breathing problems.
Journalists have been also attacked by IOF while covering the events.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) pointed out that five Palestinian youths and a 13-year-old child were detained and taken to a nearly investigation center.
The clashes erupted following a demonstration organized by the students of Birzeit University protesting the IOF assassination of Basel al-Araj in Ramallah on Monday.
The protesters chanted slogans demanding an end to Israeli occupation and security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Earlier Monday, Basel al-Araj was fatally gunned down by IOF at his family home in the central West Bank province of Ramallah.
Heavy firing of teargas bombs was monitored during the clashes, leaving a number of protesters suffering breathing problems.
Journalists have been also attacked by IOF while covering the events.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) pointed out that five Palestinian youths and a 13-year-old child were detained and taken to a nearly investigation center.
The clashes erupted following a demonstration organized by the students of Birzeit University protesting the IOF assassination of Basel al-Araj in Ramallah on Monday.
The protesters chanted slogans demanding an end to Israeli occupation and security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Earlier Monday, Basel al-Araj was fatally gunned down by IOF at his family home in the central West Bank province of Ramallah.
The Palestinian Ministry of Culture called on the national and international human rights institutions to urgently work on releasing Palestinian female detainees from Israeli jails.
In a Wednesday statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture hailed the role played by the Palestinian woman in the national liberation struggle.
“The Palestinian woman has had a mark of its own in all fields, including art, literature, culture, and resistance,” the statement read.
The ministry added that the Palestinian woman has always shown a deep-seated commitment to her identity, geo-historical roots, socio-cultural legacy, and the right to return to her motherland.
The ministry called on all cultural and human rights institutions to speak for women’s infringed rights, boost women’s role in the anti-occupation struggle, and shed light on the achievements made by Palestinian women under the Israeli occupation.
In a Wednesday statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture hailed the role played by the Palestinian woman in the national liberation struggle.
“The Palestinian woman has had a mark of its own in all fields, including art, literature, culture, and resistance,” the statement read.
The ministry added that the Palestinian woman has always shown a deep-seated commitment to her identity, geo-historical roots, socio-cultural legacy, and the right to return to her motherland.
The ministry called on all cultural and human rights institutions to speak for women’s infringed rights, boost women’s role in the anti-occupation struggle, and shed light on the achievements made by Palestinian women under the Israeli occupation.
Several Palestinians were kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at daybreak Wednesday in assaults launched across the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the abduction of 16 Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Reporting from the southern West Bank province of al-Khalil, a PIC news correspondent said at predawn the IOF rummaged into ex-prisoners’ homes and summoned a number of civilians to questioning.
Palestinian youth Shadi al-Atrash was kidnapped by the IOF from Abu Esneineh neighborhood, in southern al-Khalil, and dragged to an unidentified location.
The Israeli troops also broke into the homes of the Palestinian ex-prisoners Saad al-Qawasma, Abdul Karim al-Qawasma, and Mohamed Abeid.
At the same time, the IOF stormed the house of Palestinian citizen Abdul Ghani Taha and kidnapped his 18-year-old son, Alaa.
Meanwhile, Israeli army jeeps and troop-carriers rolled into the northern occupied West Bank province of Nablus at 2 a.m. and wreaked havoc on civilian homes in Balata al-Balad, to the east, before they kidnapped Thaer Issawi, 24, and Youssef Dweikat, 20.
Red Crescent paramedics rushed a Palestinian youth to a hospital so as to be urgently treated for rubber bullet injuries sustained in his leg during clashes that burst out in Nablus between the occupation army and the anti-occupation youth.
The IOF also stormed Tulkarem’s northern town of Balaa, in the northern West Bank, and cracked down on Palestinian civilians. A series of makeshift checkpoints was randomly pitched across the area.
The occupation soldiers broke into the home of the wanted Palestinian Mahdi Mer’i and kidnapped his father and brothers as a means to force Mer’i to turn himself in.
In the meantime, Palestinian young man Ashraf Awda, from Azzoun town, east of Qalqilya, turned himself in to the occupation army following threats to arrest his father and brother.
One day earlier, the IOF stormed Awda’s family home and detained his brother for hours.
22-year-old university student Ahmad Ezzedine Amarna, from Jenin’s southwestern town of Yabad, was also kidnapped by the IOF at a military checkpoint pitched on Nablus-Tulkarem road. The arrestee is the son of the Hamas leader Ezzedine Amarna.
The IOF further kidnapped a Palestinian youth from Tubas and another from Bethlehem.
The campaign culminated in the abduction of Nour Areikat from his home in Abu Dis town, in east Occupied Jerusalem.
The Israeli army claimed responsibility for the abduction of 16 Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Reporting from the southern West Bank province of al-Khalil, a PIC news correspondent said at predawn the IOF rummaged into ex-prisoners’ homes and summoned a number of civilians to questioning.
Palestinian youth Shadi al-Atrash was kidnapped by the IOF from Abu Esneineh neighborhood, in southern al-Khalil, and dragged to an unidentified location.
The Israeli troops also broke into the homes of the Palestinian ex-prisoners Saad al-Qawasma, Abdul Karim al-Qawasma, and Mohamed Abeid.
At the same time, the IOF stormed the house of Palestinian citizen Abdul Ghani Taha and kidnapped his 18-year-old son, Alaa.
Meanwhile, Israeli army jeeps and troop-carriers rolled into the northern occupied West Bank province of Nablus at 2 a.m. and wreaked havoc on civilian homes in Balata al-Balad, to the east, before they kidnapped Thaer Issawi, 24, and Youssef Dweikat, 20.
Red Crescent paramedics rushed a Palestinian youth to a hospital so as to be urgently treated for rubber bullet injuries sustained in his leg during clashes that burst out in Nablus between the occupation army and the anti-occupation youth.
The IOF also stormed Tulkarem’s northern town of Balaa, in the northern West Bank, and cracked down on Palestinian civilians. A series of makeshift checkpoints was randomly pitched across the area.
The occupation soldiers broke into the home of the wanted Palestinian Mahdi Mer’i and kidnapped his father and brothers as a means to force Mer’i to turn himself in.
In the meantime, Palestinian young man Ashraf Awda, from Azzoun town, east of Qalqilya, turned himself in to the occupation army following threats to arrest his father and brother.
One day earlier, the IOF stormed Awda’s family home and detained his brother for hours.
22-year-old university student Ahmad Ezzedine Amarna, from Jenin’s southwestern town of Yabad, was also kidnapped by the IOF at a military checkpoint pitched on Nablus-Tulkarem road. The arrestee is the son of the Hamas leader Ezzedine Amarna.
The IOF further kidnapped a Palestinian youth from Tubas and another from Bethlehem.
The campaign culminated in the abduction of Nour Areikat from his home in Abu Dis town, in east Occupied Jerusalem.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday evening kidnapped two young men from Rummanah village west of Jenin city in the West Bank.
According to local sources, Israeli soldiers rounded up Mohamed Ammour and Ahmed Subaihat during their attempt to enter the 1948 occupied lands to look for jobs.
In a separate incident, the IOF closed on the same day the Hajai road south of al-Khalil province, with no known reason.
The Hajai road is an arterial route connecting all the southern towns and villages of al-Khalil with the north.
According to local sources, Israeli soldiers rounded up Mohamed Ammour and Ahmed Subaihat during their attempt to enter the 1948 occupied lands to look for jobs.
In a separate incident, the IOF closed on the same day the Hajai road south of al-Khalil province, with no known reason.
The Hajai road is an arterial route connecting all the southern towns and villages of al-Khalil with the north.
