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Ramallah protesters demand release of Palestinian BDS activist
[IsraelTimes] Israeli sources say Mahmoud Nawajaa was arrested for ’security offenses,’ not over his role in boycott movement, but don’t reveal allegations against him.Paleostinians rallied in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, urging EU pressure on Israel to free a local leader of the global campaign to boycott the Jewish state. Mahmoud Nawajaa, coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the Paleostinian territories, was arrested at his home in Ramallah on July 30. Several rights groups, including "He has been detained solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association and is therefore a prisoner of conscience," Amnesty said in an August 7 blurb. More than 100 protesters gathered outside the German delegation office in Ramallah ...an entire century? Golly. urging the country, which currently holds the European body’s rotating presidency, to lobby Israel.Because that will matter? But the EU long since made its preferences clear, and to do more could threaten the lucrative EU-Israel trade. "Our main message to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...and to Germany is that you need to intervene with the Israelis, force them to uphold human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and those who defend them," said Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of BDS. The movement calls for a wide-ranging embargo of Israel over its treatment of the Paleostinians. Israeli sources familiar with Nawajaa’s case who requested anonymity told AFP that he was arrested for "security offenses," not over his role in BDS. They did not detail the nature of the allegations against him and Nawajaa has not been charged in court. Israel sees BDS as a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism. Activists strongly deny the charge, comparing the embargo to the economic isolation that helped bring down apartheid in South Africa. Last year, Israel rejected a visa extension request of the country director of Human Rights Watch, Omar Shakir, after accusing him of supporting BDS — a claim he denied. Related: Ramallah: 2020-08-07 Brother of senior Fatah official killed in family feud Ramallah: 2020-07-25 Hamas West Bank leader said freed from detention after 16 months Ramallah: 2020-07-23 Netherlands admits to paying terrorists who killed 17-year-old Israeli Related: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions: 2020-06-12 European Court of Human Rights Faults France over Israel Boycott Convictions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions: 2020-06-12 'Post' inquiry leads to closure of French BDS terrorism group's PayPal Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions: 2020-05-17 Newsweek Publishs an Op Ed exposing the BDS movement Related: Omar Shakir: 2019-11-26 Israel expels Human Rights Watch country director Omar Shakir Omar Shakir: 2019-11-05 Head of Human Rights Watch in Israel loses deportation fight Omar Shakir: 2019-04-17 Court upholds deportation of Human Rights Watch director under BDS rule Posted by: trailing wife 2020-08-12 |
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