Rachel Corrie St. in Ramallah. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The International Committee of the Red Cross recently issued this statement:

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) laments the misplaced public pressure directed towards its offices and staff over the past days which has led to the cancellation of a number of activities including family visits to the larger detainee population.   

“In recent days, we have seen sit-ins spiral out of control outside some of our offices in the occupied Palestinian territory. Staff were insulted and accused of not doing enough to follow up on their commitment towards Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention,” said David Quesne, the head of the ICRC’s mission in Jerusalem.

Quesne is downplaying what happened. The ICRC offices in Ramallah were shut down completely by protesters. When Quesne says “staff were insulted,” he means they were threatened.

And who is the person that these Palestinians are supporting?

Samer Arbid, of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who was arrested for leading a terror cell that murdered Rina Shnerb, 17.

The Shin Bet considers Arbid a “ticking time bomb” and has employed measures to save lives, approved by Israel’s  Supreme Court, including forcing prisoners into uncomfortable positions, depriving them of sleep, shackling them, and subjecting them to extreme temperatures. Arbid suffered a heart-related problem during an interrogation, and was sent to Hadassah Hospital.

The protesting Palestinians are defending this monster. The ICRC stated that they did visit Arbid in the hospital, but cannot give out details of what they saw, due to confidentiality laws.

The organization stressed that because of these protests, it cannot perform its job of helping Palestinian prisoners and facilitating visits from family members.

Elder of Ziyon has been blogging about Israel and the Arab world for a really long time now. He also controls the world, but deep down, you already knew that.