Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, Palestinian activist, writer, professor, and co-founder of the US Palestinian Community Network, was arrested today in Palestine by Israeli occupation forces as part of the attacks on May 15 Nakba protests for Palestinian refugees’ right to return throughout Palestine and on its borders. During a peaceful protest in al-Walaja, a nonviolent civil disobedience action march toward the Green Line in Al Walaja, Mazin, two other Palestinians, and multiple international solidarity activists were arrested by the occupation army.
Many media were there and his arrest was caught on tapes as he was just at the scene peacefully. Mazin himself was videotaping the protest before his abduction (please see video below). He is currently being held at the Israeli military compound near Rachel’s Tomb; his cell phone battery died, but he communicated with his family early Monday morning to say that while the arrested internationals would allegedly be released, he and his fellow Palestinian detainees would not be.
Mazin expects no release for days; he is an American citizen and a co-founder of the USPCN, and we ask members, friends and supporters to call your elected officials and the US State Department at 202-647-4000 and urge them to advocate for Mazin’s release and an end to US aid to Israel. When you call the State Department, ask to speak with “Overseas Citizens Services Duty Officer” and let them know you need info on Mazin’s case, and make sure to emphasize that he is an American citizen.
Mazin’s detention comes as part of an all-out assault on mass unarmed protests and marches by Palestinian refugees demanding the implementation of their right to return, denied for 63 years. 15 Palestinians were murdered by Israeli occupation forces as they marched to the borders of their homeland and hundreds more injured.
In Al-Walaja, Israeli forces a bombarded the protest with tear gas, forcing protesters to find refuge in the village’s houses. The original village of Al Walaja was expelled in 1948 and gradually resettled across the valley, near Beit Jala in the Bethlehem district. The march today planned to march from the newly settled Al Walaja to the village’s original lands, which is now forested with a nature reserve.
The last time he was arrested by Israeli forces for participating in a peaceful demonstration, he was treated with brutality and held long periods bound and denied simple things like water. Please see the video below to view the Al-Walaja demonstration as filmed by Mazin before his abduction:
