Youth arrest in Nabi Saleh

TAMIMI PRESS AGENCY - Three days before the first anniversary of the weekly demonstration
held in An Nabi Saleh, on December the 22nd, Israeli forces arrested
23-year-old Bahaa Tamimi, a member of the community. He will face a
trial in an Israeli Military court within the following week. The
military has been searching for him for the past few weeks, frequently
entering the village and asking for him. He was on his way to his work
in Ramallah in the morning, when he was stopped by an apparently private
car. Police asked for his ID and arrested him.
In December 2009, the village started to hold a weekly demonstration
as their answer to the Israeli occupation. One year has passed since
that first peaceful demonstration, and the Israeli army still responds
with excessive violence. Ever since then, the village has been subject
to severe repercussion – night raids, demolition orders and arrests.
More than fifty members of the community have been arrested since the
beginning of the demonstrations. A big part of the village youth has
served some time in jail, convicted on dubious charges and released
(often after several weeks or months imprisoned) without any charges
held against them.

This latest arrest of Bahaa Tamimi is continuing the Israeli policy
of random youth arrests, serving as a tool to intimidate and threaten
Palestinian families. Oftentimes their only offense is being young,
male, and Palestinian. After the imprisonment of a family member, the
whole life of the family revolves around this incident: affording money
in order to pay for the court, the long process to be granted a
permission to visit, the procedures of going through on such a rare
visit. For the youth, future prospects – such as education, the chances
to be granted a working permit, visas – are often smashed.