Arab journalist arrest ultimate false arrest

The arrest of journalist Majd Kayyal should worry Israelis.

Kayyal, a 23-year old journalist and activist and a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was detained incommunicado for five days by Israel’s Shin Bet secret police without access to a lawyer, following a return from a professional trip to Lebanon.

Haaretz editorial: At first, defense officials accused him of contact with a foreign agent and traveling to an enemy country, so extreme measures were taken.

For the five days Kayyal was detained he was not allowed to meet with his attorney, and his arrest was concealed under a sweeping gag order.

Only after intervention by human rights group Adalah and Haaretz was the gag order lifted; the suspicion of contact with a foreign agent vanished and Kayyal was released to house arrest.

The arrest and its concealment are serious matters.

Detaining someone in secret sets a dangerous precedent, not to mention the discrimination.

Kayyal was arrested and interrogated secretly only because he was an Arab.

Following criticism by The Electronic Intifada of how it handled Majd Kayyal’s case, The New York Times is forced to review its policies on observing Israeli gag orders censoring.

Majd Kayyal was arrested and held incommunicado by Israel’s Shin Bet.

Margaret Sullivan, The New York Times' public editor, has written a thoughtful and important piece criticizing the way the newspaper complied with an Israeli-imposed gag order on the case of Majd Kayyal.