On the order of Minister of Public Security Amir Ohana, the Israeli police arrested for interrogation director of Al Tur Women Centre Ikhlas Sayyad, and fashion designer Manal Abu Sbaitan on charges of “incitement” during a cultural event in Jerusalem, reported the SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom.
The Women Centre, in cooperation with The Mount of Olives Club, organised the Palestinian Heritage Day at the club’s headquarters in Al Tur, the neighbourhood in Jerusalem.
The event celebrated Palestinian heritage and identity. It included activities such as a popular Dabke show, and a Palestinian wedding, among other artistic interventions. Its slogan was, “Our heritage is our resistance and the identity of our stolen homeland.”
According to one of the organisers of the event, Israeli forces prevented Palestinian women from holding an event celebrating International Women’s Day.
The police raided Abu Sbaitan’s fashion exhibition, which showcased Palestinian traditional clothes and objects, according to Post 24.
They seized all the material on display at the show and prevented the participants from continuing the activities. “They threw clothes on the ground, confiscated the content of the show, and detained attendees,” Abu Sbaitan told SKeyes.
Sayyad and Abu Sbaitan were released after seven hours of detention.