Ali Abunimah’s Brutal Arrest in Switzerland Marks Growing Global War on Free Palestine

What does it say about justice and journalism when those who expose oppression and are silenced, while those who incite it walk free?

Ali Abunimah, the executive director of Electronic Intifada, has been brutally arrested in Zurich ahead of two speaking engagements he was meant to give, sending shockwaves through those who value press freedom.

Last night I spoke to journalists and activists who had dinner with him the night he was allowed to enter Switzerland, one day before he was brutally arrested. They tell me, this is a product of the profound and growing power of the Israeli/Zionist lobby in the country, that aims to send a chilling message to those who dare to speak truth to power.

Click on the above photo to read Electronic Intifada’s story about Ali’s arrest.

Ali arrived to Zurich on Friday and was supposed to give a teach-in event on Saturday organized by an activist group called Watermelon University Switzerland, but it, like another event he was meant to give on Sunday got cancelled an hour before.

Apparently the owners of the location where the event was scheduled to take place said at the last minute that they did not want him to come. Ali’s presence had only been announced as a guest the night before the event, because they were anxious after another event he was expected to speak at, was canceled.

Swiss immigration authorities questioned him for an hour at the airport, before eventually letting him in. The next day, they would arrested him, after tackling him to the ground, before taking him to an administrative detention center.

Ibrahim, a videographer from Gaza who interviewed the lawyer representing, says that she told him police have completely mishandled this whole incident seeing as how there was a travel ban against Ali according to authorities, which should have barred him from being let into the country to begin with.

Now, Swiss authorities said they would immediately deport him, but he would have to wait until Monday.

Apparently, the immigration officers responsible for organizing deportations do not work on the weekends. So despite having allowed him into the country, will remain in administrative detention until Monday when he will be deported.

Abunimah has long been a steadfast voice for Palestinian rights, his journalism cutting through the noise to expose the human cost of occupation and war.

His detention raises urgent questions about the selective application of justice and the treatment of individuals based on their political beliefs in Europe.

On Thursday night while having dinner with some of the organizers, including a Palestinian videographer from Gaza who has been living in Switzerland for several years as well as organizers of the events, they received news of a ridiculous story in NNZ on Friday night, smearing Ali as a “radical Islamist”.

The report on the NNZ homepage reads:

”Again a radical Islamist should have appeared in Zurich, now the man has been arrested. Government Councillor Mario Fehr speaks of a "Jewish hater". Among other things, Ali Abunimah had described Iran's missile attacks against Israel as a ‘humanitarian act’. An entry ban had been imposed on the American.”

The article said the Cantonal Police had requested an entry ban on him, but in a strange and illogical twist of events, despite this fact, Ali had been let in, before being violently arrested.

The timing of this arrest is impossible to ignore. It follows Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s recent visit to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos. Herzog’s rhetoric, widely interpreted as justifying collective punishment against Palestinian civilians in Gaza, echoes in the shadow of bombs that have reduced homes, schools, and lives to rubble. “It is an entire nation out there that is responsible” Herzog declared — a statement that defies international law and basic humanity.

While Herzog enjoyed diplomatic immunity and Swiss hospitality, the Swiss Office of the Attorney General confirmed receiving multiple criminal complaints against him. These complaints, filed by groups such as Legal Action Against Genocide, accused Herzog of incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity. Yet, Swiss authorities took no further action. Instead, they have chosen to detain a journalist whose work seeks to hold power accountable.

Tap on image below to see journalists and others who have posted in solidarity with Ali, demanding his release, including Mehdi Hasan and Ramzy Baroud.

This moment is bigger than the great Ali Abunimah (although there is a petition setup for you to make your voice heard) — It is a test of our collective commitment to freedom of expression and the principles of justice. As journalists, as truth-seekers, and as human beings, we must ask ourselves: who will tell the stories of the oppressed if those who dare to do so are silenced?

This is a call to action. To journalists: stand in solidarity. Use your platforms to demand answers about Abunimah’s arrest and question the double standards that allow those accused of inciting violence to walk free while silencing those who report on it. To readers and citizens: stay vigilant, speak out, and remember that justice must be a shield for the vulnerable, not a weapon for the powerful.

Ali Abunimah’s arrest is not just another story in a slew of others in which Western states attack and arrest journalist for doing their job — it is a warning. And how we respond will shape the freedoms we claim to uphold as journalists and citizens. Let us not look away.