Three Jewish Congressmen-elect urge Israel to release detained Arab Israeli reporter
Abed Abu Shehadeh, who recently worked with Al Jazeera, was arrested Wednesday, with authorities not disclosing the grounds for his detention. In a letter to Israel's ambassador, the U.S. lawmakers stressed the importance of press freedom
Three newly elected Jewish Democratic members of Congress, Brad Lander of New York, Daniel Biss of Illinois, and Scott Wiener of California, have called on Israel to immediately release Abed Abu Shehadeh. In a joint letter to Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter, the lawmakers expressed concern over the detention of the Palestinian journalist and political analyst, an Israeli citizen.
According to the Jerusalem Post, approximately 15 masked Israeli police and Shin Bet officers entered Abu Shehadeh's home in Jaffa on election night to take him into custody. Haaretz reports that authorities have not disclosed the grounds for his detention, though the Jerusalem Post states a court extended his detention until Sunday on suspicion of "contact with a foreign agent" based on classified evidence.
Lawmakers cited reports from Abu Shehadeh's lawyers indicating that investigators questioned him regarding a podcast interview he conducted with former Israeli lawmaker Azmi Bishara. The Jerusalem Post notes that Abu Shehadeh had previously interviewed Bishara without incident.
Brief written by urgent.news from Haaretz, Jerusalem Post — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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