Five Palestinian editors and journalists were arrested here Thursday. The charges were not immediately disclosed.
The most prominent among them, Hanna Seniora, had planned to hold a news conference Thursday to discuss the civil disobedience campaign he is trying to promote in the West Bank.
Seniora, editor of the East Jerusalem Arabic daily Al Fajr, was questioned and released on 2,000 shekels ($1,300) bail. The others arrested were Salah Zuheika, editor of the daily A-Shaab; Ibrahim Karain, publisher of the Arabic weekly Al-Anda; and journalists Mohammad Zahaika and Abdul Latif Raed.
It was unclear why they were arrested. According to the Israeli authorities, the journalists’ publications reflect the positions of various factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization. According to one report, the detainees are suspected of membership in terrorist organizations.
Seniora, who has emerged as an outspoken advocate of non-violent resistance to the Israeli occupation, was charged with endorsement of terrorism — allegedly at a news conference in Washington two years ago — and with planning an illegal assembly, police sources indicated.
The illegal assembly apparently referred to the news conference Seniora planned to hold Thursday afternoon to launch a campaign calling on Palestinians in the administered territories to boycott Israeli products, refuse to pay taxes and stay away from their jobs in Israel.
Seniora announced his plans a week ago. He intended to hold a news conference then, but canceled it. He charged that Israeli authorities had prevented other Palestinian figures from attending.
Seniora is widely respected in Palestinian intellectual circles and has Israeli friends. His name was mentioned last year as a possible Palestinian representative in a proposed joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to hold peace talks with Israel. He announced last year that he might stand for election to the Jerusalem City Council, but changed his mind later.
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