Beirut, July 15, 2010

Press Release

The Israeli police arrest the artist Fidaa al-Sha’er on charges of

espionage

Jerusalem - SKeyes Special Report

On the evening of Sunday, July 11, 2010, the regional unit of the Israeli
International Investigation service and the Shin Bet arrested the Golani artist
Fidaa al-Sha‟er at Ben Gurion Airport, after returning from Paris. The
Israelis imposed a blanket ban on the details of the case, and only allowed
the publication of the charges made against him.
On Monday, the Magistrate‟s Court extended his detention to seven days
pending investigation, and imposed an injunction prohibiting him from
meeting with his lawyer.
Nearly a thousand residents from the village of Majdal Shams surrounded al-
Sha‟er‟s house, after his family called for their help when the Israeli police
forces arrived to conduct a search of the house. Subsequently, violent
clashes erupted between the residents and the police officers who then left
without taking any documents or effects.
Fidaa‟s father said, “The clashes erupted when plainclothes police officers
entered the house without a search warrant, raiding it while firing tear gas
canisters, without regard to the fact that his wife and young son were present
there”. Al-Sha‟er‟s father then stressed that “Fidaa is a musician. He studied
music for five years in Syria and Egypt before that. He only speaks the
language of music and does not dabble in politics in any form what so ever”.
Meanwhile, al-Sha‟er‟s attorney Nabih Khanjar spoke to SKeyes‟s
correspondent and provided the following details on the case: “The General
Prosecutor‟s office charged Fidaa on three counts, which are „meeting with a
foreign agent, spying and aiding the enemy in time of war‟. He was arrested
by the Israeli police on 11/7/2010 at the airport upon returning from Paris to
his hometown of Majdal Shams. The General Prosecutor‟s office imposed a
blanket ban on the details of the case, and prohibited him from meeting with
his attorney”.
The attorney also added: “the Magistrate Court in Petah Tikva extended his
detention on 12/7/2010 for an additional seven days pending investigation.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org
We are defending al-Sha‟er without having any information or details on the
case. However, according to my knowledge and to what I heard from his
family, Fidaa is a musician and has nothing to do with politics. He finished
his musical studies at the University of Damascus and was awarded a
scholarship to continue his postgraduate studies in Paris, where he lived for
almost one year. Upon returning to spend the holiday in his hometown of
Majdal Shams, he was arrested by the police. Fidaa is an apolitical person.
He is peaceful, unaggressive, and clean and he has no criminal record. We
are surprised by the charges made against him. We also reject the order
prohibiting him to meet with the lawyer issued by the Israeli authorities, and
will deal with this order legally and study whether we can appeal it and
overturn it”. Khanjar then stressed, “I have no information about the case,
and this a disregard of the basic rights of a citizen on the part of the relevant
authorities”.
It is worth mentioning here that the artist Fidaa al-Sha‟er (27 years old) is a
musician. He studied music in Syria and Egypt, and is currently pursuing his
postgraduate studies in music in Paris. He was working on the soundtrack
for a French film, and has participated in several concerts in Paris last May.
He also participated in the opening act of an artistic event about the Israeli
crimes and the trial of Israel in a Paris theatre on May 17, as part of the
Palestinian Prisoner Day‟s events.
The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedoms strongly denounces
the arrest of the artist Fidaa al-Sha‟er in this manner, and the charges of
espionage made against him. The centre also denounces the blanket ban on
the details of the case, the order banning him from meeting his lawyer, and
the raid against his home using gas canisters as though it was a military
zone. SKeyes also reiterates its condemnation of the repeated Israeli assaults
against Arab journalists, artists, and intellectuals, and the human rights
activists in the Occupied Territories, in particular the recent abuses that
targeted artists, where a racist incitement campaign was orchestrated against
the artists Joan Safadi and Walaa Subayt. SKeyes refers these abuses to the
international human rights groups and the international public opinion, so
that they may bear witness to these acts, and calls on them to interfere to put
an end to the intransigent and racist policies adopted by Israel against Arab
artists.

Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org