File photo: Arab-Israeli poet Dareen Tatour, 35, laughs during an interview
An Israeli court on Tuesday slapped a prominent Palestinian poet with a five-month jail term for “inciting terrorism” on social-networking platforms.
According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the Israeli Magistrate's Court in the northern city of Nazareth sentenced Darin Tatour after convicting her of “inciting terrorism” in a poem she posted on social media.
An Israeli citizen, Tatour belongs to the country’s Palestinian Arab minority who remained on their land following Israel’s establishment in 1948 -- an event they remember as the “Nakba” or “the Catastrophe”.
Israeli forces rounded up 17 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli military on Tuesday.The individuals were arrested for “suspected involvement in popular terrorist activities”, the army said in a statement without elaborating on the nature of said activities.US support for Israel hurts Middle East peace prospectsTwenty Palestinians arrested in West Bank raidsThe detainees have since been remanded into custody for further investigation, the statement added.The Israeli army frequently carries out sweeping arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.According to Palestinian figures, approximately 6,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, including scores of women and some 350 minors.
Israel arrests seventeen Palestinians in overnight raids
Tatour, a 36-year-old resident of the town of Al-Rina in the northern Galilee region, was arrested by the Israeli authorities in 2015 for her poem entitled, “Resist, My People, Resist”.
In early 2016, Israel’s Central Court in Nazareth released Tatour from custody but placed her under house arrest.
It remains unclear whether the jailed poet plans to appeal Tuesday’s court sentence.