After Israeli forces abducted Palestinian legislator Mona Mansour, along with thirty other people in Nablus Monday, a number of prominent Palestinian legislators have condemned the abduction and called for Mansour's release. The abductions by Israeli forces occur on a daily basis, but usually do not include such prominent figures as those taken Monday. But this is not the first time Israeli forces have abducted elected figures in the Palestinian government. After the Hamas party was democratically elected in 2006, Israeli forces went on a raid of Palestinian legislators' homes, abducting dozens of them. Many of those legislators are still being held today, including the seriously ill Dr. Aziz Dweik.
In the case of Mona Mansour, Palestinian legislators like Khaleda Jarrar and Ayman Daraghma have made public statements calling for her immediate release.
Khaleda Jarrar, a legislator with the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, said that the abduction of Mansour shows the 'fascist' nature of the Israeli occupation forces, which engage in what she called 'rabid' campaigns of abductions in the West Bank, particularly in Nablus. She called for an end to the security coordination being carried out by the Fateh party with the israeli occupying forces.
Ayman Daraghma said that the arrest of Mona Mansour by Israeli forces is a challenge to the unelected Fateh government in the West Bank, which is headed by Salam Fayyad.
Mansour's office also released a statement calling on the international community to intervene to end the 'Israeli farce' and free the Palestinian legislators that are being imprisoned by Israel, with their only crime being that they represent a party with whom Israel disagrees.
