Arab Communist youth tells of ordeal after being arrested by Israeli police

Ahmed Abadi, center, at the May Day 2024 demonstration in Nazareth. | Zo Haderekh

TEL AVIV—A member of the secretariat of the Tel Aviv University campus chapter of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) was recently summoned by police for questioning. The “conversation,” which was mainly an interrogation about political issues, was conducted by an intelligence officer and included threats and attempts at intimidation. It made headlines.

This is not an isolated case. Zo Haderekh (The Way), newspaper of the Israeli Communist Party, interviewed Ahmed Abadi, 23, the secretary of the Acre District of the Israeli Communist Youth Alliance (Banki) and a member of the organization’s Central Committee.

Abadi, a resident of Jadida-Machar, was arrested in late June following his participation in an anti-war demonstration in Gaza and was released two days later. In a conversation with Zo Haderekh, Abadi shared the details of the arrest and his treatment by police.

Zo Haderekh: What were the circumstances in which you were taken into custody?

Ahmed Abadi: I participated in a protest march in the city of Tamra. The march took place with the permission of the police and was conducted from start to finish in an orderly manner and without problems or conflicts. The march was an initiative of the People’s Committee in Tamra and the Supreme Monitoring Committee of the Arab Public in Israel. I was not one of the organizers.

All in all, I participated in a legal march that took place in coordination with the police. The slogans we read at the demonstration are the same slogans we have been reading at demonstrations since I can remember—some of the slogans have been common in demonstrations by the Arab public since the 1950s.

At the end of the march, the organizers informed the police that the demonstration was dispersing according to the announced schedule, and the police on the spot confirmed that everything was fine.

A few hours later, the police called the organizers and invited them in for questioning. Upon their arrival at the police station, they were all arrested and handcuffed. The next day, they called my father and demanded that I report to the police station in Kfar Yasif.

I went to the station, and as soon as I arrived, I was also handcuffed. Without questioning and without conversation, I was immediately informed that I was under arrest. I was detained for four hours in Kfar Yasif without being interrogated.

Did they tell you why you were arrested?

The explanation they gave me was “online incitement.” This is probably what they say to anyone who is invited to the station in order to arrest them.

While I was detained at the station in Kfar Yasif, a detective stood by the cell door and tried to provoke me. He asked me if I wanted to live in Nablus, and said he would make sure I was moved there. (Editor’s Note: Nablus is the cultural and financial hub of the Palestinian West Bank territory; essentially, Abadi is saying the office implied an intention to deport him outside the borders of Israel.)

He also threatened me: “Tomorrow you will see what I will do in your house,” “Your parents will still be waiting for you,” and other threats of this kind. I felt that I was sitting not in a police station, but with criminals.

Then the police transferred me from the Kfar Yasif station to the Tamra station. There, another officer was waiting for me. When he saw me, he said: “Here, the instigator has arrived,” and asked me what I did yesterday in Tamra. I asked him if I was under investigation, and the officer replied: “You are in my house now, I will do what I want with you.”

I told the officer that I wanted to consult a lawyer, and he replied that it was a shame that I was given this right. I chose to remain silent, because I didn’t want to give him a reason to cause me problems.

I was arrested in Kfar Yasif at two o’clock in the afternoon, and at eleven o’clock at night I went in for questioning at the Tamra station. From there, I was driven to the Zevlon detention center and later to the Kishon detention center.

At the reception stage in Kishon, they put me in a cell with a young man who was probably suffering from a seizure; he was shaking and raging dangerously. Then, I was transferred to a cell with seven detainees. In total, I was detained for two days.

Finally, they brought me to the Magistrate’s Court, where dozens of Arab and Jewish friends who came to support me were waiting. The jailer who saw them got angry and accused me of bringing 60 Hamas supporters to the court.

I answered him: “There is not a single Hamas supporter here, we are a party of Arabs and Jews who believe in equality and partnership.” It hurt him to see that there were 60 friends in the hall who came to support me.

The Magistrate’s Court judge ordered my release, but the police appealed the decision. In my opinion, they mainly wanted to hurt me and prolong the detention. But the judge in the district court also released me, but to house arrest for three days. That’s how it ended.

What did they ask you in the investigation? Did it become clear why you were arrested?

In the past, I was an assistant to Mohammad Bracha, the chairman of the surveillance committee. During the interrogation, they teased me: “Where is your friend Bracha, who will help you now?” They asked who would take care of me and my family when I was in prison.

Although I was not one of the organizers of the demonstration in Tamra, they claimed that I was “dominant.” It was clear to me that the police were acting according to the instructions of the minister [National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir] and not according to the law.

I did not commit any offense and did not break the law. Every week, the Communist Youth Alliance holds demonstrations, and they see this kind of treatment. There is a name for it: political persecution and gagging.

We want to convey a message that a demonstration and protest against the war and for peace and political order involves a heavy price—our freedom. But we will not be deterred and will continue to demonstrate.

What is your message to young people who oppose the war in Gaza but are afraid to protest?

It is our right and even our duty to take to the streets and protest against what is happening in Gaza. Demonstration is a legal act. I greatly appreciate what our Jewish friends who are protesting against the war are doing, because your voice is more prominent.

It is easy for the Hebrew media and Jewish society to ignore the Arabs who demonstrate, because our opinion is not counted anyway. I would like to see more Jews protesting against the war, and especially that we protest together, Jews and Arabs.

And another word for those who think it’s good to sit in prison. I want to emphasize: The goal is not to be in prison, but to fight outside of prison, among the public—where we can challenge the establishment and serve the interest of our two peoples.

Arrest is never a goal. I would like to emphasize that we are not looking to be arrested because we are acting according to the law and according to the principles of peace, equality, and justice.

Zo Haderekh

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CONTRIBUTOR

Assaf Talgam

Assaf Talgam is the managing editor of the Israeli Communist Party's Hebrew-language newspaper, Zo HaDerekh.