Meet The Pro Genocide, Anti-Free Speech Security Director Behind The Arrest Of Journalist Ali Abunimah.

The Man Behind Ali Abunimah's Arrest Is An Unhinged Zionist.

As I wrote about yesterday, the Chicago-based Palestinian-American journalist Ali Abunimah was arrested in the city of Zurich in Switzerland where he was scheduled to give a talk on Palestine.

According to the Swiss outlet NZZ, the arrest came after Zurich security director Mario Fehr labeled him “an Islamist Jew-hater who calls for violence in Switzerland” and issued an entry ban to prevent him from entering the city.

According to NZZ, Abunimah was arrested after entering Zurich due to the security ban.

For anyone even remotely familiar with Abunimah’s work, the idea that he is an “Islamist Jew-Hater” or has “called for violence in Switzerland” is beyond absurd.

As journalist Jonothan Cook pointed out he is “entirely secular”, and “One of his closest, longtime colleagues at Electronic Intifada is Jewish, as have been many of his website's contributors.” Cook also noted that “He's made no 'calls for violence', in Switzerland or anywhere else”.

NZZ also reported that “Fedpol orders entry bans if a person endangers Switzerland's internal or external security.” The idea that Ali Abunimah, an acclaimed journalist, and writer with bylines in outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian is somehow a threat to Switzerland’s “internal or external security” is even more ludicrous.

These slanderous and outright ridiculous charges against Abunimah used as justification for the entry ban that was used to arrest him start to make more sense when one takes a closer look at the political views of Mario Fehr, the security director behind the ban.

Mario Fehr’s Opposition To Free Speech.

For one he is openly hostile to free speech specifically for those who support Palestine or oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

According to Swiss media, Mario Fehr wanted to shut down pro-Palestine demonstrations claiming their authorization was “negligent and dangerous”.

He justified this by claiming that “chanting hate slogans had nothing to do with freedom of expression.” Some of these supposed “hate slogans” at the rally he wanted to shut down included “Free Palestine, Free Gaza” and “Stop the massacre of the Palestinian people”.

Fehr also took issue with a speaker who supported the BDS movement and called to boycott Israeli connected brands such as Starbucks, something that is clearly an example of free expression.

Mario Fehr further elaborated on his anti-free speech views in an interview with “NZZ”.

In the interview, he claimed that pro-Palestine demonstrations were “increasingly being hijacked by extremists” and lamented the fact that a pro-Palestine demonstration “has been planned and approved for this weekend in the city of Zurich” which he called “negligent”.

He went on to openly call for a shutdown of the freedom to protest about Palestine saying:

I have emphatically pointed out to the responsible municipal security officer not to approve any further Palestine demonstrations in the current, dangerous situation.

Mario Fehr’s Support For Genocide

When he’s not slandering pro-Palestinian activists as “hateful” Mario Fehr is lending his support to Israel’s mass murder campaign in Gaza where Israel has killed 60,000 people directly and over 100,000 indirectly 70 percent of who were women and children.

On October 11th of 2023, Mario Fehr took part in what the Swiss news outlet “Swissinfo” called a “solidarity rally for Israel”. The outlet reported that “The bells of the Protestant Fraumünster church rang at 6:00 p.m., as a sign of solidarity with the Israelis.” and that “There were many Israeli flags there … as were signs calling for an end to Hamas terrorism and the liberation of Gaza.”

Fehr also spoke at this rally where he gave full support to Israel and its genocide in Gaza.

In the speech, he said “Showing solidarity with Israel today is a very important signal. We all stand by Israel and its inhabitants in these difficult times.”

He openly opposed peace and signaled support for Israel’s mass murder campaign in Gaza which Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have said constitutes genocide when he said: “You cannot negotiate peace with somebody who has come to kill you. No peace will be possible with Hamas and its cronies”.

Fehr also slandered pro-Palestinian people in the speech and repeated dubious zionist talking points when he said:

We are annoyed. About relativizers who somehow try to explain that Israel is actually to blame. These relativizers should simply spend their next stay in the Middle East in Gaza. Hamas enslaves its own Palestinian people there. Many Palestinian civilians are also suffering and are affected, but the responsibility for this lies solely with the terrorists of Hamas.

For context, Wikileaks emails prove that Israel wanted Hamas to be in power so they could use them to justify the subsequent genocidal blockade they put in place on Gaza and the routine bombing of civilians including peaceful protestors in 2018.

Fehr went on to fully endorse Israel's genocidal campaign in the Gaza Strip saying:

Israel is not to blame for this escalation. Of course, it has the right to defend itself against this perfidious terror and to do everything possible to ensure that the people of Israel can live in safety again.

He even went as far as to call for Switzerland to cut off humanitarian aid to Gaza while they were suffering under the genocide saying:

The Federal Council must suspend development cooperation with Palestine until it is clear who will really benefit from the money. Just as the EU has already done. There is no negotiating partner on the Palestinian side at the moment. Anyone who sees it differently allows money to flow to terrorists.

Fehr instead suggested that the money should be sent to Israel while they commit a genocide saying “The Federal Council must send a signal of solidarity and make a contribution to the reconstruction of Israel.”

Ali Abunimah Is A Political Prisoner.

These statements from Mario Fehr show that the case against Ali Abunimah is undoubtedly political persecution.

Fehr is an open supporter of Israel and its genocide in Gaza and openly wants to shut down pro-Palestinian speakers.

Ali Abunimah has done some of the most consequential reporting on Gaza, not only exposing Israel’s war crimes but forensically and journalistically debunking the propaganda used to justify it.

Fehr clearly took issue with this and therefore decided to get him arrested through a security ban based on false claims that he is an “Islamist Jew-Hater”.

The fact that Ali Abunimah is an American means this should be a huge international incident as an American citizen was arrested by a foreign country for his political views. Unfortunately, the mainstream media and the Trump administration which is staffed with AIPAC-bought zionists are likely to stay silent.

Note: If you want to show support for Ali Abunimah, you can sign a petition calling for his release here.