The International Committee of the Red Cross issued a statement today:
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) laments the misplaced public pressure directed towards its offices and staff over the past days which has led to the cancellation of a number of activities including family visits to the larger detainee population.
“In recent days, we have seen sit-ins spiral out of control outside some of our offices in the occupied Palestinian territory. Staff were insulted and accused of not doing enough to follow up on their commitment towards Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention,” said David Quesne, the head of the ICRC’s mission in Jerusalem.
Quesne is understating what happened. The ICRC offices in Ramallah were shut down completely by protesters. When Quesne says “staff were insulted” he means they were threatened.
Who is the person they are showing in their placards?
Samer Arbid of the PFLP, who was arrested for leading a cell that murdered Rina Shnerb, 17, with an explosive device. The Shin Bet considers him a “ticking time bomb” and has employed measures, approved by Israel’s Supreme Court in such cases, including forcing prisoners into uncomfortable positions, depriving them of sleep, shackling them and subjecting them to extreme temperatures. Arbid suffered a heart-related problem during interrogation and was sent to Hadassah Hospital.
The Palestinians are defending this monster.
The ICRC stated that they did visit Arbid in the hospital but cannot give out details of what they saw due to confidentiality laws.
The organization stressed that because of these protests, it cannot perform its job to help Palestinian prisoners and facilitate visits from family members.
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