Israeli police detain Palestinian minister for Jerusalem
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 4/6/2006

Israeli occupation police today detained Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Khalid Abu Arafeh and his two bodyguards while on their way from East Jerusalem to the nearby town of Izariya, where Abu Arafeh was supposed to inaugurate a new office building for the Palestinian Authority.

A spokesman for the Israeli police said Abu Arafeh was detained because he violated the law by traveling to a PA-controlled area using his Jerusalem identity card.


The Palestinian Authority denounced the arrest of Abu Arafeh, calling it a "clear provocation."

"We call on the international community to condemn this provocation which is designed to corrode the Palestinian government and abort democracy in Palestine."

Israeli officials said repeatedly that Israel would seek to weaken the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

Israel is worried that a successful Hamas government would solidify Palestinian demands for freedom and liberation from decades of Israeli military occupation.

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