Ramallah: Israeli occupation forces raided on Wednesday the headquarters of the Red Cross Interna-tional Committee in Shaikh Jarah of occupied East Jerusalem and arrested the two Palestinian artists who barricaded themselves in the premises to avoid administrative expulsion orders.
Samer Abu Aisah, 28 and Hijazi Abu Subaih, 33 have taken refuges at the headquarters protesting their “unfair” expulsion.
The Israeli regime issued the orders on claims they “posed significant danger” to Israeli national securi-ty.
The artists had organised several plays in local theatres in occupied Jerusalem.
They say they are being targeted for their work and refuse to leave their home city.
Under the orders, the men can be deported either to the West Bank or 1948 areas.
The orders were issued on December 25, 2015, in the first such use of administrative expulsion.
Human rights activists say the new measures are meant to pave the way for the mass deportation of Palestinians from occupied Jerusalem.
Previously, the regime has practiced administrative detention, which is rejected by the internationally community, in which it holds Palestinians in jail without charges.
In the past, the Israeli Central Court has issued restraining orders preventing Palestinians from enter-ing occupied Jerusalem, but this is the first time military commanders are issuing expulsion orders.
So far, the Prisoners Club has issued letters of objection to Israeli authorities over the orders but law-yers will not be able to see the evidence against their clients due to the use of ‘secret’ evidence issued by Israeli security services.
The deportees are all residents of occupied Jerusalem and hold blue-coloured Israeli-issued Jerusalem identity cards. It is unclear whether IDs would be revoked after expulsions.
In December, Gulf News reported of a systematic Israeli plan to shift Palestinians in occupied Jerusa-lem as well as the removal of Arabic signage from a popular marketplace.
Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to change the facts on the ground and Judaise Jerusalem complete-ly, erasing all traces of Palestinian and Muslim heritage.
Violent clashes in the past few months between Israelis and Palestinians which has killed over 100 Pal-estinians began when Jews began illegal raids of Al Haram Al Sharif.
Under a status quo agreement, Jews are allowed to visit the Muslim holy site, which they believe was built on the Temple Mount, but not perform religious rituals.
