Thousands of Palestinians took to the village streets of al-Walaja, near Bethlehem, on Friday, 17 March in the funeral of slain Palestinian youth leader and activist Basil al-Araj, marking his burial with the waving of Palestinian flags, chants and calls for justice and testimonials of love and resistance by his family, friends and comrades.

Al-Araj’s body had been held captive by Israeli occupation forces since he was shot down in a hail of bullets in the home where he was staying in El-Bireh on 6 March. His family home in al-Walaja had been raided over 10 times as occupation forces sought to capture him after he was released from Palestinian Authority prison in September 2016.

Palestinians traveled to the village to attend al-Araj’s funeral and salute the slain youth leader. His family called for carrying only Palestinian flags, in salute to Basil’s commitment to Palestinian identity and liberation.

Participants chanted against the occupation, its assassination policy and the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination with Israel, saluting al-Araj and his commitment to struggle and resistance.

Al-Araj’s body was returned on Friday afternoon at the “300” checkpoint near Bethlehem, after which it was first taken to the Beit Jala Government Hospital by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society for autopsy. The autopsy documented that al-Araj had been shot by at least 10 bullets and his body had additional injuries from shrapnel and fragments. The cause of death was determined to be a bullet wound to the heart, reported the Palestinian Ministry of Health. In addition to the bullet wound in his heart, al-Araj was shot twice in the upper back, once in the right side of the chest, once in the rib cage, once in the abdomen, once in the liver and once in the spleen, and bullets and shrapnel were also found in his pelvis.  After the autopsy, his body was returned to his family in al-Walaja for the funeral march.

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The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian leftist party, “called upon the masses of the Palestinian people to converge in al-Walaja village to attend the funeral of the heroic martyred struggling intellectual Basil al-Araj, as he is buried on Friday, March 17 after his body was kidnapped by the occupation forces after they killed him as he resisted an invasion raid in el-Bireh at dawn on Monday, March 6, 2017. The Front also urged Palestinians to organize rallies on Friday to coincide with the reception of his body and the funeral ceremony of the martyr, as tributes and symbolic funerals.”

Al-Araj, a prominent youth activist, had gone underground following his release from a Palestinian Authority prison after a hunger strike in September 2016; al-Araj and five of his comrades had been arrested by PA security forces in April 2016 in a case touted at the time by PA President Mahmoud Abbas as an important achievement for PA/Israel security coordination. They were tortured and imprisoned for five months without charges before being released after a hunger strike. Four of Basil’s comrades, Haitham Siyaj, Mohammed Harb, Mohammed al-Salameen and Seif al-Idrissi, have now been seized by Israeli occupation forces and are held without charge or trial under administrative detention.

As Basil al-Araj was buried with this march of thousands of Palestinians, New Yorkers held a rally and protest to honor al-Araj and demand justice. The New York protest followed events and actions in Palestinian, Arab and international cities organized to respond to the assassination of Al-Araj.. In New York, Washington, DC, Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, London, Rabat, Tunis, Cairo, Amman, Beirut,  and Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon, protesters joined fellow Palestinians and supporters in Gaza City, Ramallah, Haifa, Dheisheh camp and elsewhere in Palestine to demand the Palestinian Authority end security coordination with the Israeli occupation.

Slain Palestinian youth leader Basil al-Araj will be buried today in his hometown of al-Walaja near Bethlehem in a mass funeral. His body has been held captive by Israeli occupation forces since 6 March, when they killed him as he resisted their invasion of the home where he was staying in El-Bireh.

Al-Araj’s family announced that occupation forces will turn over his body at 4:00 pm local time in Palestine and that his funeral ceremony will begin the moment that his body is returned. Prayers will be held adjacent to the family home in the street, and only Palestinian flags will be carried in the funeral procession to the cemetery, where he will be buried. Condolences will be accepted by the family in al-Araj’s parents’ home. His body will be returned without conditions, after an ongoing struggle for 11 days to demand the return of the captive body as occupation forces attempted to impose numerous conditions upon the funeral.

Palestinians called for broad participation in the funeral and organizers throughout Palestine planned to travel to join in the mass tribute to al-Araj’s life and confrontation of the occupation.

Additional organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian leftist political party, urged simultaneous mobilizations and the organizing of symbolic funerals, saying that “the organizing of symbolic funerals in Palestine and in exile represent a tribute to the martyr, upholding his values and principles as a leader among young Palestinians, dedicated to the culture of resistance as a way of life and as a means of resisting the occupation and all of its projects.”

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is organizing a protest in New York City today, Friday, 17 March, to protest the murder of Basil al-Araj and Israeli policies of imprisonment and assassination. Protesters will gather at 5:30 pm at Union Square Best Buy, 52 E. 14th Street, in New York City. All are welcome to attend the protest, participate in the demonstration and demand justice for Basil al-Araj.

Al-Araj was shot down by Israeli occupation forces on Monday morning, 6 March, resisting until the end. The prominent youth activist had gone underground following his release from a Palestinian Authority prison after a hunger strike; al-Araj and five of his comrades had been arrested by PA security forces in April 2016 in a case touted at the time by PA President Mahmoud Abbas as an important achievement for PA/Israel security coordination. They were tortured and imprisoned for five months without charges before being released after a hunger strike. Four of Basil’s comrades, Haitham Siyaj, Mohammed Harb, Mohammed al-Salameen and Seif al-Idrissi, have now been seized by Israeli occupation forces and are held without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Following his assassination, Palestinians have taken the streets in Palestine and internationally to demand justice for al-Araj and an end to PA security coordination with Israel, including in New York, Washington, Brussels, Berlin, London, Vienna, Gaza City, Haifa, Nahr el-Bared refugee camp, Dheisheh refugee camp and Ramallah. The Ramallah and Dheisheh protests were violently attacked by PA forces in an attempt to suppress them, sparking growing demands against the PA’s continued involvement with the imprisonment of Palestinians for the benefit of the occupation.

Palestinian and international protests continued as Mahmoud al-Araj, the father of Basil al-Araj, filed a complaint on Tuesday, 14 March against Palestinian Authority officials and directors of the security services. The elder Al-Araj was beaten on Sunday, 12 March by PA security forces alongside many other protesters denouncing PA security coordination with Israel. His son Basil was murdered by Israeli occupation forces on 6 March 2017 when they invaded the home where he was staying in El-Bireh.

Basil al-Araj and five of his comrades had been arrested by PA security forces in April 2016 in a case touted at the time by PA President Mahmoud Abbas as an important achievement for PA/Israel security coordination. They were tortured and imprisoned for five months without charges before being released after a hunger strike that received widespread Palestinian attention and support. Four of Basil’s comrades, Haitham Siyaj, Mohammed Harb, Mohammed al-Salameen and Seif al-Idrissi, have now been seized by Israeli occupation forces and are held without charge or trial under administrative detention. Al-Araj went underground and his family was repeatedly harassed by occupation forces, their home invaded in the middle of the night and their belongings ransacked, before al-Araj was shot dead by occupation forces as he resisted on 6 March. Israeli occupation forces have continued to deny the return of Basil’s body.

Protesters took the streets in Ramallah on Sunday, 12 March against the PA court system continuing criminal charges of “possession of an unlicensed weapon” against al-Araj and the five, four of whom are held in Israeli jails. While the charges against al-Araj were dismissed, the other four’s PA trial was continued until 30 April, with the statement that they may be released from Israeli jail at that time.

The protesters, including al-Araj’s father, were attacked with batons, tear gas, sound grenades and rubber bullets. Many were injured and several arrested; Mahmoud al-Araj was taken to hospital. Along with lawyers Farid al-Atrash and Anas Barghouthi, he filed the complaint against a series of PA officials, including Adnan al-Damiri, the spokesperson of the PA security forces, Sliman Qandil, head of National Security, Abdel-Latif Qaddoumi, chief of Ramallah police, and generally against police and security forces who participated in attacking demonstrators on 12 March. The complaint includes the use of excessive force, attacking a peaceful protest, making false statements in the media and defamation; al-Damiri engaged in public statements attacking the demonstrators, labelling them “mercenaries” and foreign agents, following the violent assault on them by PA forces.

Thousands of Palestinians also took the streets on 13 March in Ramallah, marching from Manara Square in protest of the attack by PA security forces, while demanding an end to PA security coordination with Israel. The mass marches in Ramallah included demands for PA officials, including Mahmoud Abbas, to resign. The demonstrators also emphasized the importance of supporting and protecting Palestinian resistance strugglers.

As the large march wound through Ramallah, demonstrations were organized by young Palestinians in New York City and Washington, DC. On Sunday, 12 March, protests were held in Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, London, Amman, Beirut, Tunis and Rabat demanding justice for al-Araj and an end to PA security coordination.

Organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement, the protests in New York City and Washington and took place at the Palestinian Mission to the United Nations and the PLO Delegation to the United States, respectively.

In New York City, around 40 people gathered to demand justice for al-Araj. Zachariah Barghouti, other PYM representatives and speakers from a number of Palestinian and solidarity organizations, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Existence is Resistance and Decolonize this Place, addressed the rally, as well as a number of young Palestinians who knew al-Araj personally. Participants chanted in Arabic and English and left signs and posters at the door to the mission, expressing the demands of the protesters. Adnan Farsakh of Samidoun led spirited chants in Arabic, denouncing Israeli assassination and PA complicity.

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“Basel’s unrelenting passion for freedom and justice should be an example for us all. Basel was a hero and freedom fighter. And we have to honor him by securing liberation for Palestine!” said Michela Martinazzi of Samidoun. Another Samidoun activist read the statement about al-Araj’s assassination by Israeli occupation forces.

The PYM presented a statement noting that the protests in New York and Washington were denouncing the killing of Al-Araj by occupation forces while simultaneously demanding accountability for the PA’s role in his assassination due to security coordination.

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In Washington, DC, protesters gathered amid falling snow outside the PLO General Delegation to the US. Jehad Salim spoke, delivering a speech in Arabic mourning Basil al-Araj. In his speech, he denounced the Oslo agreements and all that has followed from them, including the PA’s security coordination with the Israeli occupation.

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“Al-Araj’s assassination is a continuation of the sordid Israeli practice to eliminate Palestinian leaders and undermine the national liberation movement. Rather than protest these murders and Israel’s use of lethal force against civilians, the PA continues to collude with the Israeli occupying power, thus exacerbating the vulnerability of nearly four million Palestinians residing in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip,” noted the call for the protest.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is organizing another protest against the assassination of Basil al-Araj on Friday, 17 March at 5:30 pm outside the Best Buy electronics store in Union Square. The protest will also highlight the growing international campaign to boycott HP for its involvement in Israeli colonization and apartheid while demanding justice for al-Araj. All are invited to attend the Friday protest.