Court extends Palestinian journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh’s detention

The Tel Aviv Magistrates Court extended Palestinian journalist Abed Abu Shehadeh’s detention until November 8, while he is held on suspicion of contact with a foreign agent. The court ruled on Wednesday, November 4, after police requested an eight-day extension. Authorities have not publicly detailed the allegations or evidence underlying the suspicion in the reports about the case. Abu Shehadeh, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was arrested at his home in Jaffa on the night of November 3 by Israeli police and Shin Bet officers, according to his wife and legal representatives. Reports say officers seized electronic devices. The court reviewed secret evidence that was not shared with his attorneys, according to one account of the hearing. His wife, Haneen Eghbariya, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that investigators focused on an interview Abu Shehadeh conducted with Palestinian intellectual Azmi Bishara for the AlMidan podcast, hosted on the Arab48 website. Bishara is a former member of Israel’s Knesset who lives in exile. Abu Shehadeh’s lawyers have argued that the interview was journalistic work and did not provide grounds for a criminal investigation. At the...