PPS denounces Israel’s arrest of Birzeit University students
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) on Thursday denounced the Israel’s arrest of 45 Palestinian students of Birzeit University following a solidarity visit to the Palestinian family whose house was demolished by the occupation forces.
The PPS said the forces’s targeting of Palestinian students, particularly those at Birzeit University, is an attempt to undermine their leadership role, and their right to participate in and to defend their just causes.
It said the Israeli occupation authorities have intensified their measures against Birzeit University students and detained dozens of students, disrupting their pursuit of higher education, which is a violation of their right to education.
Local sources said that Israeli forces stopped 45 students following their solidarity visit on Wednesday to the Shalabi family in Turmus Ayya town, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and arrested them.
شاهد| قوة خاصة إسرائيلية تعتقل 45 طالبًا بجامعة بيرزيت بعد زيارة الكتلة الإسلامية لعائلة الأسير منتصر شلبي في ترمسعيا شمال رام الله.#فلسطين pic.twitter.com/uWXzlgKowP
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 14, 2021
The occupation forces allowed the female students to leave while holding the remaining 33 male students who will be brought before a military court today.
Israeli forces earlier last week blew up the house of Shalabi, who is held in Israeli jails, in Turmus Ayya town.
Watch | Israeli occupation forces bombed the house of the Palestinian prisoner, Montaser Al-Shalabi, in Turmus Ayya town, north of Ramallah, last night.#FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/aUuXrnTsGE
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) July 8, 2021
Local sources said Israeli forces raided the Turmus Ayya town and started bombing the prisoner’s house with explosives to the extent that some nearby buildings in the area of the town were also damaged due to the explosions.
Residents of the area were attacked by the forces when they raided the town. The forces, local sources said, used tear gas canisters and rubber bullets to disperse the residents.
Last month, Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the decision to destroy the two-story house of the family of the prisoner in a punitive measure, as it rejected a petition by his wife, who lives in the house with their children.
44-year-old Shalabi was detained by Israel’s Shin Bet last May for performing an operation at Za’tara military checkpoint.
Shalabi had opened fire at colonial settlers near Za’tara military checkpoint, wounding 3 of them, one died later.
Shalabi does not belong to any of the resistance factions, however.
The U.S. embassy in ‘Israel’, however, denounced Israel’s razing house of Shalabi, saying that all sides should “refrain from unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undercut efforts to advance a negotiated two-state solution, this certainly includes the punitive demolition of Palestinian homes.”
It added, “As we stated numerous times, the home of an entire family should not be demolished for the actions of one individual.”
