Palestinian journalist arrested for “incitement” and “support for terrorism”

Jerusalem24 – Israeli authorities announced today they arrested 30-year-old Jerusalemite journalist Lama Ghosheh on suspicion of “incitement to violence” and “support for terrorism.”

30-year-old Ghosheh, a Palestinian journalist who is very active on social media, was detained on 4 September after Israeli forces raided her home in Sheikh Jarrah, confiscated her electronic devices, and proceeded to arrest her in front of her two children aged 3 and 5.

An Israeli court has extended her detention three times for further questioning since 4 September.

Israeli police released a statement today. “Posts on social media networks that are monitored by the police as part of the network’s activity that is carried out all the time, with contents of incitement to violence and support for terrorist organizations and other crimes, led to the arrest of a 30-year-old suspect, a resident of East Jerusalem, where she was referred for investigation to the central unit of the Jerusalem Brigade. Later, the arrest of the suspect was repeatedly extended through the court, until a public prosecutor’s statement was submitted against her last Thursday, in preparation for filing an indictment against her in the next few days.”

According to the statement, the Jerusalem branch of the investigative “Yamar” unit found that Ghosheh used to hold press interviews with released prisoners, cover various events, and publish these publications on social media. She also published a picture of Ibrahim Nabulsi carrying a weapon in his hand.

The Central Unit “Al-Yamar” in the Al-Quds Brigade revealed that the suspect used to give press interviews with released prisoners, cover various events, and publish these publications on social media, and among other things, she published a picture of Ibrahim Nabulsi carrying a weapon in his hand.

18-year-old Nabulsi was assassinated along with another fighter, Islam Sbbouh, on 9 August after Israeli forces invaded the city of Nablus, and besieged a house they were in in the old city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Israeli court extended Ghosheh’s detention until 12 September in preparation for the public prosecutor filing an indictment against her. The public prosecutor’s statement was submitted last Thursday.

Ghosheh’s name has been trending on social media as she is well-known to Palestinians for her activism, her work as a journalist, and her documentation of the takeover of Sheikh Jarrah’s homes by Israeli settlers.

Ghosheh works as a journalist at Al-Qastal news network.

In December 2021, the Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation unanimously approved the Bill for Preventing Incitement on Social Media 2021 – the so-called “Facebook Bill“. According to digital rights NGO 7amleh, this bill has been used to justify the removal of content, the harassment of Palestinian journalists and content creators, as well as arrests and charges of incitement.

As of March 2022, there were 10 Palestinian journalists in Israeli prisons on charges relating to publishing materials online — either as private individuals or through their professional work — that were deemed “incitement”, according to an investigation by The Intercept published in April this year.