The Israeli police this morning detained in Nazareth, northern Israel, the head of the Arab Follow-Up Committee in Israel, Mohammad Baraka, and other Arab leaders, according to local sources.
They said Baraka was on his way to a protest event against the war on the Gaza Strip when he was stopped in the street and arrested.
Other local Palestinian leaders were taking part in the limited, by invitation only, event planned in the Al-Ain area in Nazareth, and was not open to the public, according to the organizers.
Nevertheless, the police raided the event and arrested the participants.
The Israeli police have banned any protests against the war on Gaza threatening to arrest and imprison participants in the protests.
Palestinians in Israel were intending to hold two protests today in Umm al-Fahem and Sakhnin but the police refused to give them a permit and a petition by the organizers to the Supreme Court was rejected.
The Palestinians said they would defy the police order and hold the rallies anyway.
source: WAFA