Palestinian artist Dalal Abu Amna is also a researcher in brain sciences and nerve functions (social networking sites)

Occupied Jerusalem -

The Israeli establishment is pursuing the Palestinian artist Dalal Abu Amna, against the background of a post that read, “There is no victor but God,” published on her Facebook account after the outbreak of war on the Gaza Strip, following the operation of October 7, 2023, and the Israeli police interpreted it as follows: It is "inflammatory".

Because of this post, the artist Abu Amna (41 years old), born in the city of Nazareth, was subjected to a systematic campaign of racist incitement through social networks from accounts of Israelis and from extremist right-wing elements who accused her of identifying with the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas”, and she received calls that contained the language of threats and intimidation. .

After that, the artist Abu Amna, who is also a researcher in brain sciences and neurological functions, and her husband, Dr. Anan Al-Abbasi, went to the Nazareth Police Station on October 16, 2023, and filed a complaint against 15 Israelis who contacted her, threatened her, and abused her.

While she was with her husband at the police station, her two sons, Laure (15 years old) and Hisham (13 years old), called her husband. They were in a state of panic and said that police officers from the Afula station had knocked on the door of the house looking for their mother.

Abu Amna says: “We tried to understand what they wanted, and we explained to them that I was at the Nazareth police station to file a complaint, so they said wait there.. Within a short period, police officers from the Afula station arrived, arrested me, and subjected me to a search and physical examination before beginning the investigation with me. So I asked them: Did you find the atomic weapon I was hiding?

The Palestinian artist Dalal Abu Amna was arrested for writing “There is no victor but God” on her Facebook page.. #The_Story_Remains In a special episode, he discussed the Palestinian resistance art project and its role in affirming national identity and defending it. The artist was one of the guests of that special episode.


Full episode: https:// t.co/uOfBzIP3Ct pic.twitter.com/jwsOlelVOj

- The rest of the story (@AJASTF) October 17, 2023

More lofty

Abu Amna says: “A policewoman handcuffed me by my hands and feet, so my husband asked her why are you handcuffing her? But without a response. And all this time they did not inform me of the charges against me, so I told the officer, ‘May God reward you with what you deserve,’ and thus I was charged with threatening a police officer.”

After spending two nights in solitary confinement, the artist Abu Amna wrote in a post on her Facebook account, “I am free...free as I was and free as I will always and forever be.”

She added: "They tried to strip me of my humanity, silence my voice, and humiliate me in every way. They insulted me and handcuffed my hands and legs, but in doing so they made me more proud and proud. My voice will remain a messenger of love, defending what is right in this world."

Mass arrests

On the legal side, lawyer Abeer Bakr reviewed the police prosecution that artist Abu Amna was subjected to and the accompanying racist incitement campaigns by settler groups and extreme right-wing elements, a situation that expresses what hundreds of 1948 Palestinians have been exposed to since October 7. .

Bakr explained to Al Jazeera Net that the arrest of her client, the artist Abu Amna, directly after the events of October 7, falls within the context of the arrests carried out by the Israeli police against hundreds of Palestinians from 1948 and occupied East Jerusalem, especially the influential ones, and against the background of posts on social media accounts in solidarity. Pro-Gaza and anti-war.

The lawyer pointed out that there was no justification for arresting Abu Amna, but the Israeli police deliberately did so, as she is a famous and influential artist on the Palestinian and international levels. An Israeli court extended her detention for 3 days, under the pretext of a tweet that was translated incorrectly and its content was distorted, and the claim that the phrase “ There is no victor but God,” an inflammatory message attached to the Palestinian flag.

Lawyer Abeer Bakr: Dalal Abu Amna’s arrest was due to her influence as a famous artist (Al Jazeera)

Racist incitement

Lawyer Bakr pointed out that the arrest of the artist Abu Amna - as well as the arrest of many Palestinians from 1948 - was not legal even from the perspective of the applicable Israeli procedures, but the occupation used the state of emergency and the timing of the sudden attack on the 7th of October, to carry out these arrests that aimed to intimidate. And gagging mouths.

During the period of investigation and arrest, Abu Amna was humiliated, according to the testimony of her lawyer. Upon her release and return to her home in the town of Afula, near Nazareth, she was met with a demonstration of settlers and members of the extreme right who continued their racist incitement against her, describing her as a “terrorist,” calling her obscene words and demanding her expulsion.

Racist, inflammatory demonstrations in front of the Palestinian artist’s house turned into a recurring scene. Rather, the demonstrations, which included bloody slogans threatening the personal safety of the artist Abu Amna and her family members, took place under the protection of the Israeli police, who rejected lawyer Bakr’s request to prevent the demonstrations on the pretext that they “come within the context of freedom of expression of opinion.” .

Artist Abu Amna during the presentation of her artistic project “Ya Siti” in the town of Birzeit in the West Bank (social networking sites)

The right to protection

After that, Attorney Bakr sent a letter to the police leadership, the judicial advisor to the Israeli government, and the Israeli Attorney General, and held them responsible for the repercussions of what the artist Abu Amna was exposed to. She said in her speech to the official Israeli authorities, “You knew how to arrest her, but you did not know how to protect her and prevent the campaign of racist incitement against her.” .

Lawyer Bakr recalled previous Israeli court decisions prohibiting demonstrations in front of the homes of public figures under the principle of privacy and the right to protection. She added: "The police did not take these decisions into consideration, and allowed the extremist Yemenis to demonstrate in front of the house of the artist Abu Amna, and because of that she lost the security and personal safety of her and her family members."

The campaign of racist incitement and far-right demonstrations did not stop. Rather, according to Bakr, it was accompanied by “a campaign of harassment against the artist Abu Amna and her family by the Afula municipality by raising Israeli flags in front of her house, cutting off water for long hours from the house, and placing huge waste containers in front of it.”

The arrest of artist Dalal Abu Amna due to a Facebook post: the police intend to arrest her even before they investigate her https://t.co/SllzSnPgio

- Arab 48 website (@arab48website) October 16, 2023

Fears's barrier

Bakr does not rule out that the artist’s family will be directly targeted by extreme right-wing elements, as the Israeli police refrain from taking any measures to prevent incitement and direct targeting of the Palestinians of 1948.

She pointed out that the Israeli police created a racist and inflammatory environment and atmosphere in front of Abu Amna’s house, which encourages continued incitement and leads to physical targeting, whether by attempts to set fire to the house and its property or throwing explosive devices at it.

She explained that the Israeli authorities, in light of the war, target Palestinians, each in their place of residence, with different means and mechanisms, stressing the necessity of breaking the barrier of fear and breaking the cycle of silence regarding the bloody racist incitement against the Palestinians of 1948, “and cutting off scenes of racism from its roots.”

Bakr warned of the repercussions of the practices of the Israeli establishment, which has widely armed extreme right-wing groups and unleashed them in a situation that reflects the laws of the jungle that threaten the Palestinians.

Source: Al Jazeera