2015 prison census - Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Ali Aliwiwe
| Publisher | Committee to Protect Journalists |
| Publication Date | 14 December 2015 |
| Cite as | Committee to Protect Journalists, 2015 prison census - Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Ali Aliwiwe, 14 December 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/56701f6a2b.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
| Ali Aliwiwe, Radio 4 | |
|---|---|
| Medium: | Radio |
| Charge: | No Charge |
| Imprisoned: | October 21, 2015 |
Ali Aliwiwe, the host of an evening news program on Palestinian Radio 4, was arrestedby Israeli security forces in an early morning raid at his home in the city of Hebron shortly after he returned from work, according to his outlet.
Raed al-Atrash, the head of national and political programs at the outlet, told CPJ that Aliwiwe was put in administrative detention in Ofer prison, southwest of the West Bank city of Ramallah. Under administrative detention procedures, authorities may hold detainees for six months without charge or trial and then extend the detention an unlimited number of times.
The arrest came less than a month after Aliwiwe was released after spending six months in administrative detention, his outlet said.
Al-Atrash said the reason for Aliwiwe's latest arrest was unknown. Aliwiwe had been questioned about his work for the station during his previous detention and an intelligence officer warned Aliwiwe against using his work at the station to incite violence, according to Al-Atrash.
Aliwiwe's arrest came during a particularly tense period, amid a wave of Israeli soldiers and civilians being stabbed by Palestinians, and Israel shooting assailants, alleged assailants, and protesters. On November 2, 2015, two weeks after Aliwiwe's arrest, Israeli forces raided and shut down another Palestinian radio station, Minbar al-Huriya, accusing it of inciting violence, according to news reports. As of late 2015, Radio 4 continued to broadcast from its headquarters in Hebron.
In response to CPJ's questions about Aliwiwe and the raid on Minbar al-Huriya, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces provided a statement on November 11, 2015, that read: "Incitement has been core in aggravation, encouraging and celebration of the recent wave of terror." The statement accused Minbar al-Huriya of glorifying the stabbing attacks and reporting falsified accounts of Israeli forces killing and kidnapping Palestinians to provoke further violence. The Israel Defense Forces did not provide specific examples of incitement by Minbar al-Huriya despite CPJ's request. The Israel Defense Forces referred questions concerning Aliwiwe to the prime minister's office. As of late 2015, CPJ had not received a response.
Al-Atrash denied to CPJ that Aliwiwe or any of his colleagues at Radio 4 incited listeners to violence, saying, "We are a neutral party transmitting the suffering of our people without incitement."
CPJ was not able to review Aliwiwe's radio broadcasts. On his Facebook account, which Aliwiwe used to solicit and disseminate information for and about his broadcast, Aliwiwe reported closely on the unfolding violence in the weeks before his arrest. In his social media posts, reviewed by CPJ, Aliwiwe accused Israeli forces of "executing" Palestinians "in cold blood" on the pretext that they had attempted to carry out stabbings, and shared interviews conducted by his station with families of killed Palestinians. In a postthe night of his arrest, Aliwiwe shared his station's report about an Israeli settler who was run over by a Palestinian driver and killed.
