Mustafa al-Arraj

Summary

Bethlehem activist, one of the coordinators of the December 2013 Manger Square action in Chapter 2 of Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine that decorated a Christmas tree with spent tear gas canisters and stun grenades (Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine, PDF p.99-100).

He was arrested by Palestinian police later that day for disrupting the Christmas scene; Bethlehem police spokesman Loay Zreiqat expressed concern the grenades would “scare tourists” (PDF p.100).
Al-Arraj pointed to the USAID plaques as a provocation: “They help us with schools and hospitals, but they also help occupy us. The United States is complicit in the Israeli occupation. They give us $1 f or so m e p r o j ec t an d t h e n g i v e I sr a e l$ 1 million to hit us with tear gas and shoot us” (PDF p.100).

tags
aliases