GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In a step that was a shock to civil and human rights groups in the Gaza Strip, the Interior Ministry's security apparatus summoned Nadia Abu Nahla, a feminist activist and director of the Women's Affairs Technical Committee (WATC) Gaza branch, on several occasions in November. This is the first time the Interior Ministry has summoned an activist and head of a well-known women’s organization.
Abu Nahla told Al-Monitor that following a women's sit-in calling for an end to the Fatah-Hamas split on Nov. 5, security services detained the driver of a car that was carrying signs and papers belonging to the WATC. The car had been transporting female employees to the weekly women's sit-in.
"After the driver had been detained for three hours, the taxi office called and asked me to intervene. [The security services told me] they would not release him or the foundation's belongings unless I came to pick them up. When I went, I found that they had released him minutes before I arrived," Abu Nahla said, noting that she had been accompanied by the foundation's legal adviser Karim Nashwan. However, when she realized that one of the security men was trying to question her, she refused to answer. They considered this to be a violation of the law, and she left without even receiving the foundation's belongings.
"This was not the end of things. The security forces called the foundation, summoned me and asked for clarification about my home address. They threatened to raid the foundation if I didn't come in," she added.
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