• Palestinian activist ’executed’ by Israeli forces after 2-hour shoot-out
    March 6, 2017 10:51 A.M. (Updated: March 6, 2017 5:20 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=775810

    RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian activist early Monday morning, culminating a two-hour-long gun battle in the Ramallah area of the central occupied West Bank, after Israeli forces had been pursuing the man since he was released from Palestinian prison last September.

    The raid sparked clashes, which left two Palestinians shot and injured by Israeli forces. No Israelis were injured in the incident.

    Israeli police identified the slain man as Basel al-Araj , who was wanted for “planning terror attacks against Israelis.”

    Al-Araj was detained without charges or explanation by Palestinian security forces in April last year along with Haitham Siyaj and Muhammad Harb. The controversial case made headlines when the three men joined three other detainees in a hunger strike in Palestinian prison, amid reports of torture and mistreatment.

    After being released in September, Palestinian activists had feared that Israeli forces would immediately detain the six men, as the Palestinian Authority (PA) has been widely criticized for its security coordination with Israel through what critics have called a “revolving door policy" of funneling Palestinians from PA jails into Israeli prisons.

    Muhammad Harb and Haitham Siyaj, along with two of the other hunger striking detainees Muhammad al-Salamin and Seif al-Idrissi, were eventually detained by Israeli forces and ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, while a video was released by Israeli media showing Israeli forces beating Siyaj in custody.

    However, Israeli forces were unable to immediately apprehend al-Araj, and the months-long manhunt continued until the Monday morning raid, when forces from the Israeli army, Israeli border police, Israeli intelligence, and Israel’s counter-terrorism unit surrounded a house in the outskirts of the refugee camp of Qaddura, where al-Araj was allegedly staying.

    Israeli police spokesperson Luba al-Samri said that “once Israeli forces arrived at the place, the Palestinian terrorist opened fire at Israeli forces, causing an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian terrorist, leading to his death.”

    Al-Samri noted that no Israeli soldiers were injured in the shootout.

    Eyewitnesses told Ma’an that gunfire was exchanged between Israeli forces and a Palestinian man for around two hours until he ran out of ammunition, after which Israeli forces raided the house and “executed” him by shooting him at close range with several bullets.

    Israeli forces also fired an Energa anti-tank rifle grenade into the building, causing the destruction of parts of the house, witnesses said.

    Witnesses said they saw Israeli forces dragging a man’s body by his feet outside of the house.

    Meanwhile the Palestinian Ministry of Health has reportedly confirmed al-Araj’s death, according to online media reports, while his body was taken by Israeli forces to an unknown destination.(...)

    #Palestine_assassinée

    • Basil al-Araj assassinated by Israeli occupation forces after PA imprisonment and months in hiding
      March 6, 2017
      http://samidoun.net/2017/03/basil-al-araj-executed-by-israeli-occupation-forces-after-pa-imprisonment-

      In a pre-dawn raid attacking a home in el-Bireh, Basil al-Araj , 31, Palestinian youth activist and writer pursued by Israel for nearly a year, was assassinated by invading Israeli occupation forces this morning.

      Al-Araj, from the village of Walaja near Bethlehem, fought back and resisted the invading forces for two hours before the attacking occupation soldiers broke into the home where he was staying and executed him at close range. They then seized his body and took it to an unknown location.

      The attack on the home included rocket fire as well as al-Araj’s extrajudicial execution in a hail of bullets. Al-Araj’s family home in al-Walaja had been repeatedly raided by occupation forces for months.

      Al-Araj, a writer and activist involved in a wide array of Palestinian grassroots struggles for liberation, was among the Palestinian youth dedicated to reviving the Palestinian national liberation movement. One of six Palestinian youth released from Palestinian Authority prisons after nearly six months of detention when they launched a hunger strike, Al-Araj and other youth had been seized in April in what was touted as a victory for security coordination between the PA and Israel. While they were imprisoned by the PA, they were subject to torture and ill-treatment by PA security forces.

      After their hunger strike and widespread attention to their case, including protests after reports of their torture, secured their release, four of the youth – Mohammed al-Salameen, Seif al-Idrissi, Haitham Siyaj, and Mohammed Harb – have been seized by Israeli occupation forces. All four have been ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.(...)

    • In final letter, slain Palestinian activist Basel al-Araj ponders looming death
      March 6, 2017 8:05 P.M. (Updated: March 6, 2017 8:08 P.M.)
      http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=775829

      RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — In a final letter written before he was killed by Israeli forces in a two-hour shootout, Palestinian activist and writer Basel al-Araj revealed his thoughts over his seemingly ineluctable end.

      Al-Araj, a 31-year-old activist and resident of the village of al-Walaja in the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, had been on the run from Israeli authorities since September, when he was released from Palestinian prison after being detained without charges or explanation for five months, during which he joined a hunger strike amid reports of torture and mistreatment.

      Israeli police had accused al-Araj of being the “head of a terrorist cell that planned attacks against Israelis and security forces.”

      After a months-long manhunt, Israeli forces surrounded a house in the outskirts of the Qaddura refugee camp, where al-Araj was staying, early on Monday, prompting an exchange of fire between al-Araj and the armed forces, in which the Palestinian was killed after running out of ammunition.

      “Greetings of Arab nationalism, homeland, and liberation,” the letter, shared on social media by al-Araj’s family, read. “If you are reading this, it means I have died and my soul has ascended to its creator. I pray to God that I will meet him with a guiltless heart, willingly, and never reluctantly, and free of any whit of hypocrisy.”

      Al-Araj went on to ponder the initial difficulty of writing a last testament, like many other Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces.

      “How hard it is to write your own will. For years I have been contemplating testaments written by martyrs, and those wills have always bewildered me. They were short, quick, without much eloquence. They did not quench our thirst to find answers about martyrdom,” he wrote.

      “Now I am walking to my fated death satisfied that I found my answers. How stupid I am! Is there anything which is more eloquent and clearer than a martyr’s deed? I should have written this several months ago, but what kept me was that this question is for you, living people, and why should I answer on your behalf? Look for the answers yourself, and for us the inhabitants of the graves, all we seek is God’s mercy.”

      #Basel_al-Araj

    • Palestine occupée : Le FPLP dénonce l’assassinat du jeune Palestinien combattant et dirigeant Basil al-Araj
      Par FPLP | 6 mars 2017 | Traduction : André Comte
      http://www.ism-france.org/communiques/Le-FPLP-denonce-l-assassinat-du-jeune-Palestinien-combattant-et-dirigean

      Le Front Populaire pour la Libération de la Palestine se joint aux masses de notre peuple résistant qui pleurent l’un des plus éminents jeunes palestiniens en lutte, Basil al-Araj, qui a été assassiné aujourd’hui par le lâche occupant sioniste.

      Le martyr a mené une bataille héroïque après plusieurs mois de poursuite. Le Front a appelé à des actions de résistance pour le rassemblement dans l’unité et la coordination pour répondre à ce crime et intensifier les opérations contre l’occupation sioniste.

      Le Front a souligné que la Palestine aujourd’hui a perdu un des meilleurs jeunes lutteurs de la Palestine, qui a payé de sa vie ses principes et ses valeurs. Il s’était engagé à rejeter toutes les solutions de capitulation, il avait une vision claire de la libération, et il a travaillé pour relater l’histoire de la Palestine et faire face à toutes les tentatives pour liquider la cause palestinienne.

      Le martyr Basil Al-Araj était un combattant de la liberté, intellectuel et théoricien de l’insurrection de la jeunesse palestinienne. Il se consacrait à un chemin de résistance, à l’intifada, à l’unité, au retour et à la libération de toute la terre de la Palestine. C’était un intellectuel révolutionnaire qui mettait toutes ses énergies culturelles et intellectuelles au service de la résistance ainsi que de ses propres actions sur le terrain, luttant contre la coordination de la sécurité et la collaboration.

      L’assassinat du combattant martyr Basil al-Araj est le fruit affreux de la continuation de la coordination sécuritaire. Basil al-Araj et ses camarades ont été pris en chasse par l’appareil de sécurité de l’Autorité Palestinienne et ont été emprisonnés pendant plusieurs mois, et cette détention a été directement suivie par la traque menée par l’occupation contre lui jusqu’à sa mort.(...)