Israel-Palestine war: Arab Israeli actress Maisa Abd Elhadi accused of 'supporting terrorism', gets arrested

Maisa Abd Elhadi. Pic/Instagram

Amid the Israel-Palestine war, actress Maisa Abd Elhadi was arrested on Monday after being accused of 'supporting terrorism' in a social media post supporting Hamas' terror attack in Israel. She allegedly shared a picture of a bulldozer breaching the fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel during the attack on October 7 by the Islamist militant group Hamas.

According to reports, Maisa is among the Arab Israelis who were detained over social media posts discussing the devastating war. Reportedly, she wrote in the caption, "Let's go Berlin-style," in reference to the fall of the Berlin Wall that partitioned Germany until 1989. Maisa's attorney Jaafar Farah, who is also the director of the human rights association Mousawat, informed AFP, "She is accused of supporting terrorism."

Hebrew media, on Tuesday, reported that police without taking her name confirmed the arrest of "an actress and network influencer, resident of the city of Nazareth, on suspicion of expressions of praise [for terror] and hate speech." "The police fight against incitement and support for terrorism continues all the time," the statement said.

The Arab Israeli actress is expected to be released from jail on Thursday. Apart from Maisa, singer Dalal Abu Amneh was also detained over one of her social media posts.

During the initial days of the Israel-Palestine war, Bollywood actress Nushrratt Bharuccha was stuck in Israel. After a long wait, she boarded a flight to India from Tel Aviv. She was in Haifa to attend the Haifa International Film Festival for the screening of Akelli. Recalling the experience, the actress said in a statement, "Saturday morning was nothing like the previous evening's celebration. We were woken up to the deafening sounds of bombs going off, a blaring siren, and complete and utter panic as we were all rushed down into a 'shelter' in the basement of our hotel. It was only when we emerged from in there, after what seemed like an endless wait, that we learnt that Israel was under attack. Nothing could have prepared us for this news."

She added, "We mustered all the courage we could find and picked ourselves up to somehow get to the airport and take any flight out to any country we could manage to."

The actress thanked the Government of India, the Indian Embassy and the Israeli Embassy, for their help. "I would also like to thank each and every one of my well-wishers from the bottom of my heart for their wishes and prayers for my safety," she concluded.