Israeli occupation forces seized Palestinian singer Mohammed Barghouthi, composer Naji al-Rimawi and musician Nazzal Barghouthi from their homes in the town of Beit Rima near Ramallah in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday, 30 August.
The seizure of the musicians seems to come in retaliation for their song about Omar al-Abed, the Palestinian prisoner who carried out an armed operation at the Halamish illegal settlement in July, killing three Israeli settlers. The song has been performed at many weddings in the area over the summer.
Al-Abed’s family in the Ramallah-area village of Kobar has been subject to intense collective punishment, including the imprisonment of his mother, father and brother and the demolition of their family home. The village itself has been subject to a series of raids and violent attacks by Israeli occupation forces.
Occupation forces ransacked Barghouthi’s home and attacked his father, who was taken to hospital after his son was seized. They also confiscated his archive of music, songs and performance recordings.
