Israeli occupation forces arrested a researcher for Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem last week on the basis he had photographed a protest against an illegal settlement outpost, reported Haaretz.
Arif Daraghmeh, 50, was detained at the Tayasir checkpoint last Thursday, and released only “late that night”. According to the human rights researcher, the detention was purely “intended to intimidate”.
Arif Daraghmeh, a researcher for the Israeli human rights NGO B'Tselem, tells Haaretz that his arrest was intended to intimidate him https://t.co/0Cpfzeiur9
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) November 3, 2019
Speaking to Haaretz, Daraghmeh said he had arrived at the checkpoint in a vehicle with friends.
“The soldiers immediately asked us strange questions, like if there’s any activity today and if we’re going to plant olive trees,” he said.
“They called an officer in the Civil Administration [occupation authorities], who was also interested in any planned activity in the Jordan Valley.”
Daraghmeh then heard an army officer remark that they have a video of him participating in a demonstration on October 26, against the Shirat Ha’asavim settlement outpost in the Jordan Valley.
A recent report by B'Tselem revealed that #Israel follows a systematic demolition policy targeting Palestinian houses to expand illegal settlements. Abu Srur's house is another example. https://t.co/cDYUpqqIMz
— التغريبة (@Taghreeba) February 10, 2019
Daraghmeh was taken to an army base near the Mehola settlement, where he was left “sitting by the gate, in the sun, without cuffing him or otherwise restraining him”.
At 10 pm that night, Daraghmeh was taken to a police station in Ariel settlement, where he was “asked about his presence at the protest against the outpost, and also at another protest that took place shortly thereafter near the village of Ein al-Biddya”, to which he replied he was doing his job.
He was finally released at about 3 am on Friday.
(Middle East Monitor, PC, Social Media)
