On April 2, 2025, Israeli forces arrested Bilal Shalash, a Palestinian historian and researcher with the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, on unspecified charges of endangering regional security. He was later released after an Israeli military court determined that there was no evidence to support the charges.

Shalash’s research focuses on documenting Palestinian history and has involved the compilation of an archive including memoirs, letters, declaration, and other records, including on Palestinian fighters. On April 2, Israeli forces forcibly entered Shalash’s home. They interrogated him and searched his home and car, as well as his and his wife’s phones, before arresting him without providing a reason.

Shalash was held for about three weeks in Moskabiya prison in Jerusalem. After three hearings to extend Shalash’s detention, a military court ruled that there was no evidence to support the allegations against him. He was released on April 20.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of a scholar. Absent further evidence of wrongdoing, this arrest suggests an effort to retaliate against or deter academic work or views — conduct that is expressly protected by international human rights instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Israel is a party. State authorities must respect academic freedom and nonviolent expressive conduct and refrain from actions intended to punish, restrict, or deter such conduct. In addition to the harm to the immediate victim, such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.newarab.com/news/israeli-court-orders-bilal-shalash-freed-over-lack-evidence
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/politics/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%AF%D8%AF-%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%A4%D8%B1%D8%AE-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B4%D9%84%D8%B4-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D8%A9
https://www.alaraby.co.uk/culture/%D8%A8%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%B4%D9%84%D8%B4-%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D9%8F%D9%87%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%91-%D8%A8%D8%A3%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84
https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2025/06/23/letter-to-protest-the-intensification-of-israels-assaults-on-the-education-sector-in-the-occupied-west-bank