Mohammad Barakeh, the former chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel and a former Hadash MK between 1999 and 2015, was detained yesterday (Tuesday) on suspicion of incitement. He was interrogated at the police station in the Ariel settlement before being brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court, where he was released on bail.
Mohammad Barakeh (right) and MK Ofer Cassif at an anti-occupation protest in Jerusalem (Archive photo: Zo Haderekh)
In his ruling, Judge Oded Moreno stated that “a reasonable suspicion exists that the offense was committed” and ordered Barakeh’s release under specific conditions. These include a 30-day ban from the occupied Palestinian territories and a personal recognizance bond. The police had initially requested a 90-day ban from the territories, a travel ban abroad until October, and the confiscation of his passport. Prior to his release, police officers confiscated two mobile phones in his possession to “complete the investigation.”
Last week, it was reported that an investigation had been conducted against Barakeh on suspicion of committing the offense of “incitement to terrorism.” This stems from a speech he delivered at a Fatah movement rally in Ramallah in 2022, during his tenure as chairman of the High Follow-Up Committee, in which he called for deepening the popular struggle against the occupation. Last Tuesday, a police officer arrived at Barakeh’s home in Shefa-Amr and served him a summons for interrogation at the Ariel police station. There, he underwent what has been described as a political interrogation lasting approximately four hours.
Following the publication of his arrest in the Al-Ittihad newspaper and other Arabic-language media outlets, a long series of condemnations was issued. These included statements from the High Follow-Up Committee, the Communist Party of Israel (CPI), Hadash, and the Adalah Center—which legally represents Barakeh—among others.
According to MK Ofer Cassif, “This criminal arrest by the Kahanist militia is disqualifying for at least three reasons. First, Barakeh was forced into an interrogation inside the Ariel settlement, which was established on plundered Palestinian land and is blatantly illegal. Second, the investigation was conducted following a speech delivered years ago and for expressing legitimate, and indeed lawful, opinions, which clearly constitute political persecution and an attempt at intimidation on the eve of the elections. Third, this arrest serves the Kahanist minister and the entire associated group to continue their campaign of political persecution against the Arab-Palestinian public and against the entire consistent left-wing camp, Jews and Arabs alike, who oppose the government’s crimes, chief among them the crimes of the terrorist occupation.”
Barakeh had previously been detained by police in November 2023 while en route to Nazareth, where a protest vigil against the war in Gaza was scheduled to take place. At the same time, four other members of the High Follow-Up Committee’s leadership were arrested in Nazareth. Prior to his arrest, Barakeh stated in an interview with Radio Nas, broadcasting from Nazareth: “It is forbidden, in the name of resisting the occupation, to attempt to justify the murder of a baby in Israel. This is neither ethical nor moral, and above all, it harms the justice of the Palestinian struggle, whose leaders call for removing innocents from the cycle of violence.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=7088
