JINHA

NEWS CENTER – Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar is scheduled to appear before a military court today. Israeli military forces have ordered that Khalide, long active in the Palestinian liberation struggle, be held for at least six months without charges. Her detention can be continued at any time.

Activists have started a letter-writing campaign for freedom for Khalida, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a lawmaker on the Palestinian Legislative Assembly. The 52-year-old feminist lawmakersuffers from chronic health problems.

According to Ma'an News Agency, Israeli forces searched Khalida's house, in the Ramallah neighborhood of Al-Birah, for two hours starting at 3 a.m. Thursday night. They arrested Khalida and seized several computers. Khalida's daughter Yaffa says the security forces "surrounded the house." The house, located in Ramallah, is in an area under the Palestinian Authority; therefore, PA participation in the arrest is suspected.

Fares Qaddura of the Palestinian Prisoners' Society called the detention an act of revenge against Khalida's recent refusal of security forces' attempt to deport her from Ramallah to the city of Jericho.

Palestinian activists note that the practice of indefinite detention without trial is an affront to all legal rights. There are currently 23 women political prisoners being held by Israeli security forces. There are more Palestinian lawmakers in Israel's jails than in the Knesset.

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