Two East Jerusalem Arab editors arrested April 15 on suspicion of sedition and incitement were released today on IL 2000 bail each by a Jerusalem district court, Joseph Nasr, editor and publisher of the East Jerusalem weekly, Al Fajar, and Jamil Hamad, assistant editor, had been remanded in custody for 15 days pending trial. Israeli authorities charged that the two had failed to submit their stories to the censor.
The court allowed bail over the objections of Jerusalem police who wanted to hold Nasr for further questioning. The interrogation of Hamad was said to have been completed. Both were detained after publishing a report that accused Israel and Jordan of collaboration in the Israeli commando raids on terrorist headquarters in Beirut on April 10 in which three terrorist leaders were killed. Jordan called the report “completely unfounded” and accused the weekly of serving Israeli intelligence.
The arrest of the two editors raised a storm of criticism in the Israeli press. Haaretz said it damaged Israel’s image. Maariv said the detention of the pair would be viewed as punishment for expressing anti-Israel opinions. In addition to alleging Israeli Jordanian collusion. Al Fajr published a front page editorial urging Arabs to mourn the slain terrorist leaders.
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