Today the great Mazin Qumsiyeh’s name was mentioned in a State Department briefing by acting deputy spokesman Mark Toner. The geneticist, the author, the nonviolent activist, Qumsiyeh was arrested yesterday in occupied Al Walajah which is being devoured by Jerusalem. I saw Qumsiyeh last month in Boston, I still haven’t reported on it. I will. What an inspiring figure. The mention:
QUESTION: Are you aware of the arrest in the West Bank of a Palestinian – or American citizen, Palestinian academic, whose last name is Qumsiya?
MR. TONER: Matt, I’m not. We’ll look into it.
QUESTION: Can you check into that?
MR. TONER: Yeah.
QUESTION: He was arrested by the Israelis as part of a —
MR. TONER: Was that today, Matt?
QUESTION: — or during a march.
MR. TONER: Or – was that today or over the weekend?
QUESTION: I believe it was on Saturday or Sunday.
MR. TONER: Okay. We’ll look into it.
QUESTION: Thanks.
MR. TONER: Do you have the name?
QUESTION: Yeah. I’ll give it to you.
MR. TONER: All right. Go ahead.
QUESTION: I have a follow-up on that question. Do you think that the Israelis used excessive force in dealing with the demonstration – demonstrators?
MR. TONER: Well, again, I think what we’re looking for is restraint on all sides. We certainly don’t want to see a continuation of the violence, and certainly, Palestinian security forces did play a constructive role, and that was an encouraging sign. But we call on all sides, I think, to show restraint moving forward. We don’t want to see any more deaths or violence.
