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Mohammed Khatib, Coordinator of West Bank Coordination CommitteeArrested
Press Release -
28 January, 2010

Israeli arrests aimed at quashing popular resistance continue: Mohammed Khatib, Coordinator of West Bank Coordination Committee Arrested
In the highest profile arrest of the recent wave of repression againstWest Bank popular struggle, Israeli soldiers arrested Mohammed Khatib todaybefore dawn. Khatib is a member of Popular Committee against the Wall and
Settlement in the West Bank village of Bil`in and the coordinator of thePopular Struggle Coordination Committee. For more details:+972546327736 | media@popularstrugg le.org
At a quarter to two AM tonight, Mohammed Khatib, his wife Lamia and theirfour young children were awakened by Israeli soldiers storming their home,which was surrounded by a large military force. Once inside the house, the
soldiers arrested Khatib, conducted a quick search and left the house. Mohammed Khatib during a speech on his speaking tour in Canada last year.Pictures Credit: Tadamon!Roughly half an hour after leaving the house, five military jeeps
surrounded the house again, and six soldiers forced their way into thehouse again, where Khatib`s children sat in terror, and conducted another,very thorough search of the premises, without showing a search warrant.
During the search, Khatib`s phone and many documents were seized, includingpapers from Bil`in`s legal procedures in the Israel High Court. Israeli Soldiers violently preventing an international solidarity worker
from entering Khatib`s home tonight. Pictures Credit: Hamde Abu RahmahThe soldiers exited an hour and a half later, leaving a note saying thatdocuments suspected as `incitement materials` were seized. International
activists who tried to enter the house to be with the family during thesearch were aggressively denied entry.Mohammed Khatib was previously arrested during the ongoing wave of arrestsand repression on Augst 3rd, 2009 with charges of incitement and stone
throwing. After two weeks of detention, a military judge ruled thatevidence against him was falsified and ordered his release, after it wasproven that Khatib was abroad at the time the army alleged he wasphotographed throwing stones during a demonstration.
Khatib`s arrest today is the most severe escalation in a recent wave ofrepression again the Palestinian popular struggle and its leadership.Khatib is the 35thresident of Bil`in to be arrested on suspicions related
to anti-Wall protest since June 23rd, 2009.The recent wave of arrests is largely an assault on the members of thePopular Committees – the leadership of the popular struggle – who are thencharged with incitement when arrested. The charge of incitement, defined
under Israeli military law as `an attempt, whether verbally or otherwise,to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb thepublic peace or public order,` is a cynical attempt to punish grassroots
organizing with a hefty charge and lengthy imprisonments. Such indictmentsare part of the army`s strategy of using legal persecution as a means toquash the popular movement.Similar raids have also been conducted in the village of alMaasara, south
of Bethlehem, and in the village of Ni`ilin – where 110 residents have beenarrested over the last year and half, as well as in the cities of Nablus,Ramallah and East Jerusalem.Among those arrested in the recent campaign are three members of the
Ni`ilin Popular Committee, Sa`id Yakin of the Palestinian NationalCommittee Against the Wall, and five members of the Bil`in PopularCommittee – all suspected of incitement.Prominent grassroots activists Jamal Jum`a (East Jerusalem) and Mohammed
Othman (Jayyous) of the Stop the Wall NGO, involved in anti-Wall andBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigning, have recently been releasedfrom detention after being incarcerated for long periods based on secret
evidence and with no charges brought against them.Background links:
[1] Ynet: 2010 will see us beat the occupation:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3840698,00.html
[2] Palestinians who see nonviolence as their weapon


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