Israel-PA security integration

[ 25/10/2010 - 12:29 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

 Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the arrest of Omar Al Barghouthi, brother of the longest held Palestinian captive in Israel, is “a compounded crime” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Barghouthi was arrested three days after he was released from preventative security prison.

The PA Preventative Security militia arrested Barghouthi after he served more than 25 years in Israeli prison. His brother Nael Al Barghouthi is the longest held political prisoner in the world, serving 32 years in Israel. His son Bakr was sentenced to 12 years in Israeli detention.

Barhoum said in an exclusive statement to the PIC: “Barghouthi’s arrest on Palestinian Prisoners Day and amid international sympathy for Palestinian captives in Israeli prisons demonstrates the depth of security cooperation.”

“The abduction of Omar Al Barghouthi comes in the context of conspiracy between the [Palestinian] Authority and [Israel] to go back to negotiations without any sanctions taken against the enemy on the regional and Arab level,” the Hamas spokesman added.

The arrest confirms the extent of the full security integration between the Fatah authority and the Israelis in detaining Palestinians and attempting to break the wills of captives by taking vengeance on their family members, Barhoum went on to say.

Hamas lawmakers in the West Bank condemned Barghouthi’s arrest, calling on the Fatah movement and the PA to fight against the security coordination, asserting that it poses a threat to the existence of Palestinians in PA-controlled territories.

On a similar context, the Hamas MPs also condemned the PA intelligence arrest of Islamic preacher Majid Hassan, who was taken two weeks after his release from Israeli prison after serving three years in administrative detention.

Hassan’s wife Nada Al Jayyousi has also been harassed and threatened to be arrested on several occasions.

PA security forces have begun to take turns with Israeli security forces targeting Palestinians in the West Bank, each party arresting detainees released from the other’s custody, the West Bank officials said.

The lawmakers commented that the continued targeting of ex-detainees is a disgrace on those who arrest them, “a stab in the back” against prisoners and the Palestinian history and cause, and disregard of the sacrifices they have made.



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