Palestinians active in the non-violent struggle against the illegal Israeli Apartheid Wall were taken from their homes in the West Bank last night, according to a statement from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) said.
ISM said this is happening at a time when media attention is focusing on the taking of one Israeli soldier by Palestinian resistance, and the mass-abduction of 64 elected Palestinian representatives last night.
It added that Israel took 2 Palestinians from Bil’in and 1 from Beit Ummar – villages active in the struggle against the annexation Wall.
"The Israeli military took 28 year-old Youssef Abu-Marya from Beit Ummar, Hebron region. He has been active in non-violent resistance in that region in the past two years and is a member of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar," said a press release by ISM.
The Committee has recently been organising non-violent actions in the area that try to gain access for Palestinian farmers to their farm land after it has been closed off due to both settler violence and the Israeli military closure of the area.
In Bil’in, father of three, 29-year old Ahmad Khatib (the brother of Mohammed Khatib, one of the organisers of the weekly non-violent demonstrations against the apartheid wall in the village) was taken by the Israeli army.
Abdullah Abu-Rahme, from the Popular Committee Against the Wall and colonies in Bil’in said that another villager, Ayad Burnat, was being held hostage in order to pressure the family into "giving up" his brother Mujahid who they want to get hold of for reasons that were unclear.
Mussa Abu-Marya, a member of the Popular Committee in Beit Ummar does not believe that they arrested Yousef for security reasons, but to continue a policy of threatening and arresting Palestinian peace activists. "They don’t like the non-violent movement that has taken hold here in the Hebron region," he said.
Arresting activists or threatening them with arrest or violence is not a new Israeli policy. It has often been used as a scare tactic against Palestinians active in non-violent struggle against the various forms of Israeli occupation in their daily lives.
