Israeli authorities free detained journalist after five days
Abed Abou Shhadeh was released from a Shin Bet facility after police raided his home in Jaffa and held him without formal charges.
By Ayanda Boateng ·
Palestinian journalist Abed Abou Shhadeh was released by Israeli authorities on Sunday following a five day detention that began on Tuesday.
He was held at a Shin Bet intelligence facility in Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, after officers detained him on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent. Abou Shhadeh described the detention as a political measure aimed at intimidating Arab society as a whole. He stated that he intends to continue his work as a journalist and reaffirmed his belief that his path is the path of truth.
The legal rights group Adalah, which is part of his defense team, said the suspicion relied on reports that Abou Shhadeh received money from foreign sources to support Israel's Arab voters. This accusation followed his appearance on the al-Midan podcast for the Arab48 website and his role as an analyst on Al Jazeera. His legal counsel, Hadeel Abu Salih, noted that the topics he discussed were similar to those covered in Israeli media. She argued that the suspicion was based on a public conversation he had with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara while in Qatar.
Abu Salih said it was obvious by Thursday that the police lacked evidence in this context. She stated that the Israeli system turned a discussion of political reality into a criminal suspicion simply because the speakers were Palestinians. She added that authorities attempted to characterize him as a political counsel rather than a journalist.
Abou Shhadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was arrested in the middle of the night on Tuesday. Fifteen Israeli security officers raided his home in Jaffa and confiscated personal belongings, including electronic devices and books, in front of his two children. Hasan Jabareen, the founder of Adalah, described the five day detention as part of a campaign against the votes of Arabs and Palestinians in Israel. He said Israel sought to delegitimize their votes through the claims against Abou Shhadeh. Jabareen noted that Abou Shhadeh traveled to Doha as a journalist and returned as a journalist, but was arrested as an Arab political person. He said authorities tried to use the case to suggest that Arabs used illegal means in their political participation in Israeli elections.
The release concludes the formal detention period. Abou Shhadeh has returned to his residence in Jaffa. His legal team continues to monitor the case as they review the evidence cited during the initial raid. No further charges have been filed as of Sunday morning.
