They Arrested Me on Criminal Charges

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

I had a television interview with Al-Aqsa satellite channel on 20 April 2009, at four thirty in the afternoon. No sooner had I finished the call than I was flooded with phone calls full of curses and abuse (I will publish them at some point). I called the police to report the threats, and they asked me to come to the station to file a written report. I decided to go, but only after finishing some manual work in my garden. While I was working, a Preventive Security vehicle arrived and handed me a summons to appear the following day. Afterward, I went to the police to file my complaint, and found myself instead placed in a holding cell. I will publish the full story later. They detained me on criminal charges for one principal reason: that I had said, according to their claim, that whoever fired on Sheikh Hamed Al-Bitawi was an Israeli agent. The person concerned made this statement before the Magistrate’s Court in Nablus. The following day, officials issued statements claiming that Abdul-Sattar Kassem was under criminal detention, and that he habitually curses people and calls them agents. I am confident that most of our people do not believe such a claim, but I am writing this for whoever still harbors doubt.

Below is the literal text of the paragraph at the center of the controversy, and I place before the reader the link to the full interview, should he wish to view it in its entirety.

The anchor asked: How can these attacks in the occupied West Bank — which culminated in the assassination attempt on MP Hamed Al-Bitawi — be understood in light of the situation you are describing?

[Answer:] …the other reaction generates further tension on the Palestinian scene, widening the rift, while we remain preoccupied with squabbling among ourselves. What happened to our brother Sheikh Hamed Al-Bitawi does not fall outside this pattern. I heard the statement claiming this was an individual act. No, there is no such thing as an “individual act” — even if it were individual, it would still have been preceded by considerable, reckless incitement pushing toward such acts. And of course, before that, you know they burned my car too. Why these attacks, when everyone keeps saying, “By God, we’ve restored security to Nablus,” and so on? No, they have not done that — they called for calm and left those who assault people [an unclear word here, due to the anchor clearing his throat] tucked away in a certain corner, to be released if the need or necessity arose. Naturally — what situation would require that? Certainly not the Palestinian situation itself; rather, there are perhaps interests at play — certainly interests belonging to Israel and the United States of America. And so these acts are nothing but a continuation of the same chain of corruption we have lived through for years. [End of answer]

The interview also covered two other subjects: Palestinian dialogue, and Egypt’s role in the region. For anyone who wishes to view the interview in full detail, here is the link — I should note that I will also be copying the interview onto compact discs, and anyone interested will be able to obtain a copy.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “اعتقلوني جنائيا” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.