Mohammed Zeidan Mahmoud, 39, of Issawiya in Jerusalem, was released on Wednesday evening, 22 February from detention after 15 years in Israeli prison. While he had been scheduled for release one day earlier and his family was awaiting his release, instead he was taken from Gilboa prison to the Moskobiya interrogation center in Jerusalem by Israeli occupation intelligence agents.
Upon his release, he was ordered to the city of Jericho for three days and any celebration of his release was prohibited. Earlier in the day, police and intelligence agents had raided Issawiya, arresting several youth and destroying the reception tent set up for Mahmoud. Two youth from Issawiya were expelled from the village for seven days and an order was issued to forbid any gathering of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine as a “terrorist” organization.
The seizure of Mahmoud upon his arrest and the extreme measures to prevent celebration upon his release are reminiscent of the detention of recently released prisoners Sufian Fakhri Abdo and Daoud Ghoul, both Palestinian Jerusalemites re-arrested – and then released with repressive conditions – after their release from Israeli prison in an attempt to shut down celebrations of their freedom.
