Israeli forces released Palestinian lawmaker Muhammad Abu Tair after he was held in Israeli prison for six months under administrative detention — Israel’s widely-condemned policy of internment without charge or trial.
Abu Tair was detained on August 4, 2017 after Israeli forces raided his house in the town of al-Bireh in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah. He had been released from Israeli prison two months prior to his latest detention in August.
Hamas member of the Palestine Legislative Council from Jerusalem, Mohammed Abu Tir, arrested in January, sentenced today to 17 months + fine https://t.co/TSgyvVZYyS
— Marian Houk (@Marianhouk) December 13, 2016
Abu Tair has spent an estimated total of 32 years behind Israeli bars.
The Hamas-affiliated lawmaker moved to al-Bireh after being exiled from his home in occupied East Jerusalem in 2010, along with fellow imprisoned parliamentarian Ahmad Attun, Palestinian Legislative Committee (PLC) member Muhammad Tutah, and former PA Jerusalem minister Khalid Abu Arafeh.
BREAKING: US Designates Ismail Haniyeh, Leader of #Hamas as Terrorist , + 2 other groups in Gaza & Egypt . Statement: pic.twitter.com/uk14uZxowK
— Joyce Karam (@Joyce_Karam) January 31, 2018
The four were forced out of Jerusalem after the Israeli Interior Ministry had been threatening to deport Hamas-affiliated lawmakers from the city — under the pretext of disloyalty to the Israeli state — since Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006.
Rights groups have claimed that Israel’s administrative detention policy has been used as an attempt to disrupt Palestinian political and social processes, notably targeting Palestinian politicians, activists, and journalists.
(Maan, PC, Social Media)
