Israel’s arrest of Palestinian physicist spurs international protest

Nature : Imad Ahmad Barghouthi, a theorist who studies space-plasma physics at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, was detained without charges on 6 December 2014 as he crossed the border from the West Bank into Jordan. In response to Barghouthi’s detainment, several international science organizations have sent letters of protest to the Israeli government and to European organizations that provide research funds to Israel. Barghouthi was on his way to Amman to catch a flight to the United Arab Emirates so that he could attend a meeting of the Arab Union of Astronomy and Space Sciences in Sharjah. Since his arrest, he has been held in an Israeli military prison without being charged under a policy that allows Israel to hold a potential security risk for three months. Jawad Boulos, Barghouthi’s lawyer, believes that Barghouthi was detained because of statements he made in support of Palestinian activists during Israel’s 2014 invasion of the Gaza Strip. Barghouthi is now scheduled to be released on 2 February, but could be held longer.