Palestinians and Israelis Protest for Release of Poet Dareen Tatour, Under House Arrest

+972 posts this report on a recent protest demanding the release of Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour, under house arrest for a poem that she posted on Facebook during the height of violence between Palestinians and Israelis last year. She has been held under house arrest for the past five months. This article features a conversation with Tatour's father, Tawfik, who joined demonstrators on June 26 asking for her release. More:

Dozens of Palestinians and Israelis demonstrated at Jaffa’s Clock Tower Square on Saturday evening to call for the release of Palestinian poet, Dareen Tatour, who has been held under house arrest for the past five months.

Tatour, 33, from the Arab village Al-Reineh near Nazereth, was arrested by Israeli police on October 10, 2015 because of a poem she had posted to Facebook, along with a number of other Facebook statuses she published at the height of latest wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis. She was charged with incitement to violence and identifying with a terrorist organization — all because of her poem.

The main clause of her indictment was based on a poem that she had allegedly posted on YouTube under the title: “Qawem ya sha’abi, qawemhum” (Resist my people, resist them). Another main clause in the indictment relates to a news item, cited in a post on Tatour’s Facebook page, according to which “The Islamic Jihad movement calls for continuing the Intifada all over the [West] Bank…” The same post calls for a “comprehensive intifada.” (Read more about Tatour’s arrest here).

On Saturday night demonstrators held signs and Palestinian flags, while passersby responded with curses and threats. Policemen at the scene prevented any physical confrontations.

Among the protesters was Dareen’s father, Tawfik, who thanked the crowd for standing alongside his daughter. “They are silencing my daughter, there is no other way to put it.” Tawfik told +972′s Hebrew sister site, Local Call. “I did not expect this kind of thing from a democratic state, but it turns out that this is a democracy for some. Dareen is only a poet, all she did was write poems. If you ask me, this should be allowed in a democratic country.”

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