Palestinian security arrests activist for urging Abbas to resign
Human rights campaigner Issa Amro detained for comments posted on Facebook, his lawyer says
Issa Amro, who leads the 'Youths Against Settlements' organization, criticizes the Israeli government and Hebron's Jewish settlers in the old city, on November 5, 2015. (Judah Ari Gross/Times of Israel)
Palestinian security forces have detained a prominent activist after he called for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to resign.
A lawyer representing Issa Amro, a human rights activist from the West Bank city of Hebron, says his client was arrested Monday after posting his comments on Facebook.
On Sunday, Ayman Qawasmi, a Palestinian reporter, was arrested after writing that Abbas should resign for “failing to protect the Palestinian people.” Qawasmi’s radio station was closed last week by the Israeli military for alleged incitement to violence.
The arrests are the latest in recent crackdown on journalists by the Palestinian Authority.
Amnesty International called Amro’s arrest “a shameless attack on freedom of expression.”