Arab teacher arrested over TikTok dance to sue police and Ben Gvir; expected to win

In her first interview since being arrested by police at the encouragement of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, an Arab Israeli educator says she was kept overnight in a police car with her eyes covered and her hands and feet cuffed after she was picked up for posting a video of her dancing with an October 7 timestamp.

“I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. I’ve never hurt anyone before,” Entisar Hijaze tells Channel 12.

Hijaze explains that on the day of October 7, she had arrived early at the school where she works in Yafa an-Naseriyye in northern Israel and filmed a video of herself dancing. She says she was not aware of what was unfolding on the Gaza border that day.

Her feed includes countless other such videos in addition to one shortly after the Hamas onslaught in which she mourned a Jewish friend from Kibbutz Beeri who was murdered that day.

Earlier this week, TikTok sent her a reminder of the video, and she decided to post it. The app then includes the original date when it was published in what led to attention on social media — something that was passed along to Ben Gvir who urged police to investigate the matter on suspicion that she was supporting terrorism.

“I didn’t write anything on the post or have any intention to hurt anyone or do something bad,” Hijaze tells Channel 12.

She describes the mistreatment she endured from officers at the police station in Nazareth who cuffed her hands and feet and blindfolded with a flannel material that is typically reserved for Palestinian suspects in the West Bank, leading to accusations of racism.

After being forced to sleep in the police car, Hijazi was ordered to stand in front of an Israeli flag and raise her handcuffed hands for a picture while she was still blindfolded — another tactic police have began employing against Arab suspects since Ben Gvir took over as minister overseeing the force. Photos of Hijazi were then passed along to Ben Gvir and released to the public.

Hijazi says officers throughout her detention yelled at and mocked her, ordering her to dance while she was still handcuffed. When she asked to go to the bathroom, one of the officers told her to go in her pants.

Channel 12 says Hijazi is planning to file a wrongful arrest suit against the police and a libel suit against Ben Gvir, who called her a terror supporter.

The network says legal experts expect her to win both cases.

Hijazi was released late last night as criticism over the police’s conduct compounded.