Background

  • Early Sunday morning, April 13, 2014, Adalah claimed, on its Facebook page, that “Israeli police arrested journalist Majd Kayyal, a web editor at Adalah… Kayyal was returning from a conference he independently attended to mark the 40th anniversary of the ‘As-Safir’ newspaper in Beirut, Lebanon.” (On Sunday morning, Adalah posted an updated that “Majd Kayyal has arrived at the Haifa Magistrate’s court. It is expected that the court’s session will begin shortly considering the police’s request to extend his remand.”)
  • As-Safir reportedly maintains close connections to Hezbollah and has a pro-Syrian stance.
  • Majd Kayyal actively participated in the 2011 flotilla to disrupt the blockade of Gaza. In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv, Kayyal said he participated because “they (Gazans) are part of the Palestinian nation, which I am part of… Only such a struggle will solve the problem, not a peace agreement on paper or negotiations with Abu-Mazen. Neither the security issue nor the borders will bring peace. It’s all bullshit… the idea of two-states will not hold…”
  • In addition to working with Adalah, Kayyal also edits a cultural website, Qadita, and a blog, Message to the Tricontinental. The first post on the blog is a video of a Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror training camp.

Foreign government funding for Adalah

The massive support by foreign governments for Adalah, which employs and supports a radical anti-Israeli activist, demonstrates the inability of foreign government funders to provide effective oversight and accountability for the funds provided to groups that claim to promote human rights.