Palestine: Activist arrested for Facebook post released

By Kaamil Ahmed

JERUSALEM (AA) - A prominent Palestinian activist arrested for a critical Facebook post was released on bail on Sunday, his organization said in an official statement.

Youth Against Settlements, an NGO based in the occupied West Bank's Hebron, said founder Issa Amro was released on a $1,400 bail bond after a week in jail, but still faces charges.

He had been arrested by Palestinian authorities for criticizing the arrest of a Hebron-based journalist who had demanded resignation of President Mahmoud Abbas.

"I will continue fighting the occupation and defending Palestinian rights within and outside Palestine," Amro said.

"This detention will not stop me...I hope we as Palestinians will be able to change the new law which is repressing freedom of expression."

Amro calls for non-violent opposition to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, styling himself after the pacifist Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

The legal trouble Amro has found himself in with the Palestinian Authority (PA) has added to incitement charges leveled against him by Israel.

Amro's arrest came after a new law enabled the authority to crackdown on journalists and public figures using social media to criticize the state.