Israeli police detain Palestinian community leader over 2022 speech Submitted by MEE staff on Wed, 06/24/2026 - 11:40 Mohammad Barakeh, former head of the High Follow-Up Committee, was questioned pending further investigation, in a move condemned as political persecution Mohammad Barakeh pictured at Tel Aviv Magistrate Court on 18 April 2012 (Jack Guez/AFP) Off Israeli police detained and questioned a veteran Palestinian community leader on Tuesday in what has been condemned as part of a wider campaign of “political persecution” against Palestinian citizens of Israel . Mohammad Barakeh, the former head of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, was summoned from his home in Shefa-Amr by police, according to the committee. He was instructed to appear for questioning at a police station in the Ariel settlement in the occupied West Bank - a move the committee described as “provocative” - despite his objections to the location.