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On Monday, January 27, 2025, Switzerland deported the Executive Director of the Electronic Intifada website Ali Abu Nimah after he spent two nights in prison following his arrest, insult, arrest, and investigation without any justification only because he is an activist with Palestine and against the occupation.
Swiss police arrested and deported Palestinian American journalist Ali Abunimah, director of Electronic
Intifada, while he was in Switzerland to attend a Palestine solidarity event. Photo credit: TRUTHOUT.org
His arrest is an attack on freedom of opinion and human rights in a country that is supposed to guarantee freedom of opinion and human rights. Unfortunately, it is clear that Western countries have gone beyond the stage of respecting freedom of opinion and human rights and entering the current dark age where freedoms and human rights are no longer respected or guaranteed in a number of European and Western countries. Even in countries such as Germany, France, and Britain, a person is held accountable for his skin color, name, and Arab, Islamic, and Eastern origins.
In an expression of his rejection of his arrest and imprisonment, Abu Nimah refused to eat and only accepted water during his detention until he was informed that he would be returned to his country (the United States of America). Upon his arrival in Istanbul, in a press statement, Abu Nimah compared the mistreatment he received from the Swiss authorities to the treatment of Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who was "welcomed with a red carpet in Davos and a carpet soaked with the blood" of Palestinians killed during the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza.
The story of the arrest of colleague Ali Abu Nimah reminds me of what happened to me personally in England because it is very similar to the story of my arrest at London Airport a year and a half ago, but I was luckier than him because they allowed me to enter the country and stay there for a week after an investigation that lasted for more than five continuous hours, a Mossad investigation par excellence, it seems to me, there is no difference between them... and after they messed with all of my belongings, my phone, my computer, and my entire bag. They also did not allow me to contact my relative who was waiting for me at Victoria Train Station in London, and they lied to me when they told me that they had called him only to find out later that they had not.
That day, I started my week in London by visiting the tomb of the immortal martyr artist Naji al-Ali, where I complained to him about our situation and how our enemies' friends were treating us. Perhaps my visit in August 2023 was my last visit to England, as I no longer had the desire to see the "British Mossad" waiting for me at the door of the plane.
Abu Nimah described what he experienced and from Istanbul said that he was "cut off from the outside world" and "was not even allowed to contact his family." He added that the police accused him of "violating Swiss law" but no charges were brought against him. Abu Nimah added that he was interrogated "by agents of the Swiss Ministry of Defense intelligence without the presence of his lawyer, and they again refused to allow him to contact her or his family."
Ali Abu Nimah's arrest was met with widespread condemnation, including two condemnations from two UN human rights experts, Francesca Albanese and Irene Khan, the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression and from Amnesty International and a human rights organization in Geneva, Euromed Monitor. In addition to many condemnations from institutions, organizations, personalities, and activists around the world.
Ali Abu Nimah, a Palestinian known for his defense of Palestinian rights and his opposition to the occupation and its crimes, was arrested last Friday at Zurich Airport, while he was coming there to participate in an event in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against the occupation.
Nidal Hamad Palestinian author and political commentator based in Oslo, Norway. For inquiries, contact NidalHamad@gmail.com
Translated from Arabic to English by Mahmoud El-Yousseph. Originally published on Al-Safsaf website. www.al-Safaf.com
Palestinian author Nidal Hamad. Photo credit: Nida Hamad Facebook page