The Electronic Intifada’s executive director Ali Abunimah was deported by Switzerland on Monday after spending two nights in jail.
Abunimah was detained ahead of a speaking event in Zurich on Saturday.
He arrived in Switzerland the previous day for a series of events at the invitation of local organizers. When he arrived at the airport in Zurich on Friday, Abunimah was questioned by police for an hour before being allowed to enter the country.
Eyewitnesses said three plainclothes police officers violently arrested Abunimah on Saturday and forced him into an unmarked vehicle without disclosing where he was being taken.
Abunimah’s arrest appears to be part of a growing backlash from Western governments against expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Last year, several activists and journalists in Britain were arrested, raided or charged using “counter-terror” powers.
They included Asa Winstanley, an associate editor with The Electronic Intifada, whose home was raided and his computers and phones seized. Winstanley has not been charged with any crime and the raid was condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Britain’s National Union of Journalists.
Switzerland’s arrest of Abunimah has been met with worldwide condemnation. A petition demanding his release launched on Saturday had been signed by more than 15,000 people at the time of writing.
Two United Nations human rights experts have condemned the detention of Abunimah by Swiss authorities.
Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, called it “shocking news” and called on Switzerland “to urgently investigate and release” Abunimah.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, called for a “prompt investigation into this matter.” She said that “the climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic, and we should all be concerned.”
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Bill Ayers 