Israel: PFLP leader Jarrar given 6 months of administrative detention

The Israeli authorities issued a six month administrative detention order for Palestine Legislative Council member and leader of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Khalida Jarrar on Sunday.

Jarrar, who is also the vice-president for the Addameer Prisoner Support rights organisation, was arrested from her home in Ramallah on Thursday, 2 April at 1am. The Israeli army raided her house and confiscated two laptops and a mobile phone. Jarrar was taken to Ofer prison in northwest Ramallah at 7:30 am after being transferred from one military base to another. At Ofer, she was interrogated for four hours, before being transferred to HaSharon prison in northern Israel.

Last year in August, Jarrar received a military order from the Israeli army that sought to banish her to Jericho for six months, where she wouldn’t be allowed to transgress the city’s borders except with the army’s express permission.

Jarrar refused to sign the order, which was based on “secret information” that considered her to be a threat to the security of the area.

Jarrar has been a vocal advocate for the end of security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Since Ramallah falls under Area A, which technically is under Palestinian civil and security control, the Israeli army would have coordinated with the PA in order to enter Ramallah and arrest Jarrar.

In an interview with the Middle East Eye, Jarrar acknowledged that the Israeli occupation “daily gets more intense” as the situation for Palestinians continues to get worse.

“People always react to their circumstances and to their dignity, which is very important as well,” she said, adding that there was “nothing to lose” under such conditions.

The director of Addameer’s legal unit Mahmoud Hassan stated that the confirmation hearing session of Jarrar’s order will be held on Wednesday, 8 April at Ofer prison. Hassan visited Jarrar, who suffers from a chronic illness, at HaSharon prison and said that she was held in good health conditions and taking her medication regularly, although she requires “constant medical supervision”.

Addameer have released a state condemning Jarrar’s arrest, which it “considers it a part of the systematic targeting of the Palestinian political figures in order to criminalize their work and to silence them, and to stop them from practising their roles in defending and supporting the Palestinian cause.”

The organisation called on the international community to take a stance against Israel’s policy of administrative detention, which they described as “arbitrary.”

Administrative detention is a form of internment where the detainee is held for an indefinite period of time that is subject to renewal, without any charges or trial levelled at them.

There are 15 Palestinian legislators inside Israeli prisons, Jarrar included, with most of them held on administrative detention. 23 Palestinian women are also imprisoned by Israel.

6,200 Palestinians in total are inside Israel’s jails, including 163 children. Over 400 under administrative detention, which has been condemned by human rights organisations and called on Israel to release or give the Palestinian detainees fair trials.