Jerusalemite organizer Abeer Abu Khdeir sentenced to two months in Israeli prison for 2011 arrest

Prominent Palestinian activist Abeer Abu Khdeir, organizer with the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the wife of imprisoned Palestinian Nasser Abu Khdeir, was sentenced to two months in Israeli occupation prisons on 2 March.

Abu Khdeir’s case has continued for seven years; she was seized by occupation forces in 2011 when they invaded the family’s home in Shuafat, Jerusalem. They came to arrest her 14-year-old son, Anan, and she intervened between her son and the soldiers to free him from their hands. She and her daughters, Asala and Sumoud, were arrested and released after several days.

They were charged with disruption of official police work and “assaulting” police; trial sessions in the case continued for seven years. In addition to the prison sentence, she was also fined 4,000 NIS ($1,000 USD). Her daughter Asala was sentenced to two months of community service and a fine of 2,000 NIS ($500 USD), while her daughter Sumoud was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and a fine of 1,000 NIS ($250 USD).

Abeer Abu Khdeir has been arrested on several occasions by occupation forces and beaten in the streets of Jerusalem. Her husband Nasser Abu Khdeir is currently serving a 16-month sentence in Israeli prison and has spent over 15 years in Israeli occupation jails. She is known nationally and internationally for her work in defense of Jerusalem and organizing Palestinian women.