The prominent journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, has been released from Israeli custody after five days in detention. He was arrested on Wednesday by armed police and Shin Bet agents who conducted a nighttime raid on his home in the Israeli city of Jaffa. Abu Shehadeh’s detention was related to his reporting on the October 27 Israeli election and the role of Palestinian political parties. Ahead of the election, he interviewed Azmi Bishara, a Palestinian intellectual and former member of the Israeli Knesset who has lived in exile in Qatar since fleeing Israel amid allegations that he aided Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon war. Israeli authorities detained Abu Shehadeh on suspicion of “contacting a foreign agent,” in connection to his interview with Bishara.
“Men with ski masks knock on your door at 11 at night. They tell you that they have an arrest warrant. They raid the house. They wake your wife, your children,” says Shehadeh. “It tells how messianic and dangerous the extreme right in Israel has become, willing to use this unprecedented power against journalists.”
This content originally appeared on Democracy Now! and was authored by Democracy Now!.