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Over 150 literary figures call on Israel to release Palestinian poet Tatour

Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour's case drew international attention after Israel put her under extended house arrest for her poems. More than 150 literary figures, including authors Alice Walker and Naomi Klein, called for Tatour's release.

AFP WORLD
Published August 01,2018
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An Israeli court has sentenced an Arab poet to five months in prison for incitement to violence over social media posts she made during a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Dareen Tatour's case drew international attention after Israel put her under extended house arrest for her poems. More than 150 literary figures, including authors Alice Walker and Naomi Klein, called for Tatour's release. Critics called her arrest a violation of freedom of expression.

In delivering its sentence Tuesday, the court says Tatour's poem was inciting and that free expression has limits. Tatour was also convicted of supporting a terror group. She says her poem was not a call to violence.