Israeli soldiers arrest feminist Palestinian lawmaker

By Haggai Matar April 2, 2015 | Edit

Six months after she was ordered to move from her home near Ramallah to Jericho, the army arrests Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar. She will join 16 other Palestinian lawmakers currently serving time in Israeli prisons.

Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and a leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, poses for a photo showing an internal expulsion order given to her by Israeli soldiers who invaded her home in Ramallah in the early hours of August 20, Ramallah, West Bank, August 27, 2014.

Israeli soldiers arrested Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, in her home in Al-Bireh (near Ramallah) during the early hours of Thursday morning. Jarrar, a feminist activist who is also active on issues regarding human rights of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, is a member of the PLC (the Palestinian parliament) on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). She was arrested just two days after the 20th Knesset was sworn in.

The IDF Spokesperson has yet to respond to +972’s request for comment regarding the cause of Jarrar’s arrest or regarding the authority of the Israeli army to operate in areas under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority (which contravenes the Oslo Accords). The Israeli news site Walla! reported that Jarrar was arrested on “suspicion of terrorist activity.”

In August, soldiers arrived at Jarrar’s home to present her with an internal expulsion order demanding she move to Jericho within 24 hours for a period of a 1.5 years. Jarrar refused and remained in her home. Now, half-a-year later, she was arrested for unspecified reasons. Jarrar is known for her harsh criticism of the Palestinian Authority, and specifically its security coordination with Israel.

According to the Alternative Information Center, Jarrar is joining 16 other members of the PLC who are currently serving time in Israeli prisons, which means that more than 10 percent of Palestinian lawmakers are currently in Israeli prisons. Nine of those members — including Hamas member Aziz Dweik — are in administrative detention, and have not stood trial nor been sentenced. The PLC is comprised of 132 members who were elected in the last democratic elections held in the PA in 2006.

This article was first published on +972′s Hebrew-language sister site, Local Call. Read it in Hebrew here.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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