The Magistrate Court in Jerusalem extended the detention period for Daoud al-Ghoul for another three days on Sunday, 26 July 2020. Daoud al-Ghoul is the ex-director of Shafaq, the Arts Coalition in Jerusalem, he was arrested on 22 July 2020 from his home at Ras al-Amoud in occupied Jerusalem, after his home was search and several of his belongings were confiscated. Daoud was detained for around 12 hours in a police vehicle without him being interrogated with and without offering him a judicial review. Daoud was then transferred to interrogations at the police station located in Abu Ghnaim mountain.

During the extension session, the police demanded to extend Daoud’s detention for five days, the police alleged they found material in his home that is tied to violations of Israeli law. However, al-Ghoul said that the material found is old and was in fact, used against him in his previous arrest. Still, the court ruled for the extension of his detention for interrogations until 28 July 2020. The judge also alleged that the suspicions against al-Ghoul form a danger and demand his detention, even still, Daoud was only taken to an interrogation session once since his last extension of detention.

Al-Ghoul was the director Shafaq, the Art Coalition in Jerusalem, this arrest comes as a part of an ongoing targeting of Palestinian civil society organizations by the Israeli occupation forces. Furthermore, this targeting campaign aims to shrink the space for Palestinian organizations, including the cultural ones, and further target Jerusalemite organizations in an attempt to suppress and displace Palestinians from Jerusalem.

This is not Daoud’s first arrest, he was arrested several times in the past, he was also banned travel and access to the West Bank for a period of time, and was also forcibly transferred from Jerusalem for around one year.