Military court keeps senior PFLP member in jail for eight days

An Israeli military court ordered Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar to remain in prison on Sunday.

Jarrar, a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was arrested Thursday by Israeli forces, on suspicions of “involvement in terror activity,” an Israeli security official said.

Ghassan Jarrar, Khalida’s husband, said in a phone call that his wife’s lawyer informed him on Sunday afternoon that the Ofer Military Court decided to extend her remand by eight days.

A Shin Bet security service spokesman confirmed that the court made the decision.

Jarrar, 56, who has long advocated for Palestinian prisoners, is a former PFLP lawmaker in the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Palestinian Authority parliament.

Israel, the United States and the European Union consider the PFLP, one of several member parties of the Palestine Liberation Organization, to be a terrorist organization.

Illustrative. Israeli troops search for the terrorists who committed a shooting attack on a bus stop outside the Ofra settlement in the West Bank, near Ramallah, in which seven Israelis were injured, including a pregnant woman, on December 9, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

Ghassan Jarrar, who owns a toy factory, lashed out last Thursday at Israel’s arrest of his wife, contending the Jewish state had no grounds to do so.

“This is an arbitrary and unjustified measure,” he said at the time. “Khalida was preparing to teach a course at Birzeit University next year on democracy and human rights. She has not recently been active in political work.”

In late February, Jarrar was released from prison after being held from July 2017 to February 2019, under an administrative detention order.

Administrative detention is a measure that allows Israel to detain Palestinians without indicting them or presenting details of the accusations against them.

Israeli security officials have defended the measure, arguing that issuing an indictment could force them to reveal sensitive security information. Palestinians and international rights groups, however, have criticized the practice, contending that Israel abuses it.

Jarrar also did a stint in prison in 2015 and 2016 after an Israeli military court convicted her of incitement to violence and “promoting terror activities.” She has denied those charges.