by Team Khalil
2 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
A Palestinian activist and three teenagers were arrested by Israeli occupation forces this morning during an early morning raid on the village of Beit Ummar in the West Bank.
Soldiers entered the village at around 1 am to capture Yousef Abu Maria, the coordinator of the recently formed Popular Movement Against the Wall and a father of three children. He was arrested because of his presence in a military zone during a demonstration in June 2012.
Yousef was made to stand outside the police station in the illegal Israel settlement of Karmei Tzur from the time of his arrest until 10 am. He was released on a charge of 1000 shekels (270 USD) and made to sign an agreement not to go near the illegal settlement, some of which is built on Yousef’s farmland.
In separate family homes, three teenagers, Eyad Omer Sbarna, 17, Ehab Omer Awad, 18, and Mohammad Hussain Ade, 17, were arrested for an unsubstantiated charge of throwing stones at Isreali army vehicles. The incident was supposed to have happened during a recent demonstration. As of this afternoon, the teenagers were still imprisoned.
Beit Ummar, like many villages and towns in the West Bank, receives constant violent harassment from the illegal Israeli settlers. Early on Tuesday morning settlers set fire to a Palestinian car and a tractor and painted “The only good Arab is a dead Arab” on a wall.
Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)