The head of a small Gaza peace activist group who organized a video chat with like-minded Israeli peers has disappeared.
The family of Rami Aman, 38, says he has not been heard from since he surrendered last Thursday morning to the Hamas Internal Security headquarters in Gaza City, according to an exclusive report by The New York Times.
Aman’s group, the Gaza Youth Committee, had a really successful event last week, according to the report, with more than 200 participants converging on Zoom to “Skype With Your Enemy.” The chat, held in English, lasted near two hours, and covered a cultural exchange that included information about how each was coping with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic – and with other difficulties in life, according to The New York Times.
But so did Gazans who were looking to take down their brethren who are seeking peace. Their efforts led to the arrest of Aman and several others for the crime of “holding a normalization activity” with Israelis – a “betrayal of our people and their sacrifices,” according to Hamas Interior Ministry spokesperson Iyad al-Bozom.
Aman was targeted within 48 hours by freelance Gaza journalist Hind Khoudary, who denounced him on Facebook and tagged three Hamas officials, including Bozom.
The activist’s father and his wife were told by Hamas officials on Friday – the day after Aman’s arrest — to bring clean clothes for his son to intelligence headquarters in Gaza City. They did so, according to The New York Times, but they did not see their son and have had no word on his condition or whereabouts since.
Those suspected of being “collaborators with Israel” are routinely put to death by Hamas in Gaza. Bozom told the Times that it was indeed the Hamas military prosecution which handles accused collaborators and other serious security threats that issued the arrest warrant on Aman.