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Rami Aman (; born 1981/1982) is a Palestinian journalist and peace activist in the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...
. Aman founded the Gaza Youth Committee, through which since 2015 Aman has been organizing small-scale video chats between Israelis and Palestinian peace activists in the Gaza Strip in an initiative called "
Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...
With Your Enemy." On 9 April 2020, Aman was arrested by
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
at the Internal Security headquarters in
Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...
. He was charged with "weakening revolutionary spirit" for his role in organizing the April 2020 video call with Israelis. He was released in October 2020.


Background

Rami Aman was born in Gaza, and is a journalist. He has been active in supporting peace and Israeli-Palestinian co-existence, as well as intra-Palestinian peace.


Activism

In 2010, Aman founded the Gaza Youth Committee, an organization that seeks to connect people in Gaza with the outside world through the internet. Since 2015, through the committee, Aman has been organizing small-scale video chats between Israelis and Palestinian peace activists in the Gaza Strip in an initiative called "
Skype Skype () was a proprietary telecommunications application operated by Skype Technologies, a division of Microsoft, best known for IP-based videotelephony, videoconferencing and voice calls. It also had instant messaging, file transfer, ...
With Your Enemy." In 2017, Aman was able to visit the United States for three months as part of a Leaders for Democracy fellowship. In 2019 he organized cycling events held with Israeli cyclists, with participants separated by the border fence. Aman was arrested for helping to organize the cycling event. In October 2023, Aman criticized the Israeli attacks on Gaza as part of the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
, noting that the conditions prevented anti-Hamas protests and that the attacks would likely further radicalize Gazans.


Detention and release

On 6 April 2020, amid the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the Gaza Youth Committee held one of its largest videoconferences via
Zoom Zoom may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''Zoom'' (2006 film), starring Tim Allen * ''Zoom'' (2015 film), a Canada-Brazil film by Pedro Morelli * ''Zoom'' (2016 Kannada film), a Kannada film * ''Zoom'' (2016 Sinhala film), a Sr ...
, with more than 200 participants. Opponents of normalizing relations with Israel were also on the call, resulting in a public uproar; journalist Hind Khoudary criticized the event publicly and tagged
Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...
officials in a Facebook post about Aman. Hamas arrested Aman and several other Gazan call participants. On 9 April 2020, Aman surrendered himself at the Hamas Internal Security headquarters in
Gaza City Gaza City, also called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Port of Gaza, Palestine's only port. With a population of ...
. Aman's wife was arrested alongside Aman in 2021, but was released soon after on bail. On June 28, 2020, she visited Aman in prison and asked him for a divorce; he refused, believing her request was coerced. In August 2020, Aman signed divorce papers with the stipulation that he would be released the following day; however, Aman remained in prison. On 9 September 2020, a coalition of 70
NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...
s lodged a complaint with the UN
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is a body of independent human rights experts that investigate cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the imprisonment or detainment of an individual, by a State, ...
regarding the detention of Aman and demanded his release. On 24 September 2020, ''The New York Times'' reported that Hamas military prosecutors in Gaza had charged Aman and two other Palestinian peace activists with "weakening revolutionary spirit" for their role in organizing the April 2020 video call with Israelis. On 26 October 2020, the Permanent Military Court in Gaza issued a decision to release Rami Aman, on a suspended sentence, sufficed with the time they served.


Personal life

In 2018, Aman met his future wife after she separated from her first husband. Her father was an exiled Hamas official living in Egypt. In early 2020, the two married. Following Aman's coerced divorce with his wife, she was brought to Egypt by a Hamas delegation in October and turned over to relatives there. The ''
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
'' was able to contact Aman's ex-wife, who confirmed she had been coerced into the divorce. Rami Aman has been living in Egypt since December 2021.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aman, Rami Living people 1980s births 21st-century Palestinian journalists Palestinian anti-war activists Palestinian prisoners and detainees Palestinian emigrants to Egypt