Israel arrests Fatah activists in Jerusalem

By Abdelraouf Arna'out
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli police rounded up a number of Fatah activists in the occupied East Jerusalem on Tuesday ahead of an electoral meeting, according to the Palestinian movement.

In a statement, Fatah said the arrests took place in the vicinity of Ambassador Hotel in East Jerusalem, as the activists were planning to hold an electoral meeting at a hotel in the city.

According to local residents, candidate Ghada Abu Rabee, who will vie in the May 22 parliamentary elections, was among those detained.

Israeli police have erected checkpoints around the hotel in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem in a move aimed to abort the meeting.

"The [Israeli] occupation continues to suppress and prevent all activities in Jerusalem as part of its attempts to impose the Israeli sovereignty on the occupied city," Fatah said in a statement.

Hotel employees told Anadolu Agency that Israeli intelligence agents had arrested the hotel’s manager, Sami Abu Dayyeh.

Israel has yet to respond to Palestinian plans to hold elections in East Jerusalem.

Palestinians residing in East Jerusalem took part in previous elections conducted in 1996, 2005, and 2006. They voted in six Israeli postal centers set up in the city. The votes were then sent by mail to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission.

International law views both the West Bank and East Jerusalem as occupied territories and considers all Israeli settlement-building activity there illegal.

*Ahmed Asmar in Ankara contributed to this report