Hafez Omar is a Palestinian graphic artist and activist who was arrested by Israeli soldiers at his home on March 13, 2019. He remains detained without charge or access to legal counsel.

Omar, who was educated at the Fine Arts School of An-Najah University in Nablus, Palestine and helped found one of the first professional art exhibition spaces in the West Bank, Al-Mahatta Gallery in Ramallah, has also been a well-known poster designer for years. He rose to prominence in 2012 when his rendering of a hunger-striking Palestinian political prisoner in silhouette spread across the Internet in a matter of hours. The image is still a powerful one that is now in use by those calling for Omar’s own release from detention.

In addition to his poster-making, which has remained prolific, Omar is also a vocal opponent of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and supporter of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS). Often, Omar’s posters are created for use in specific demonstrations and disseminated online to be printed by individual demonstrators. The most common focus of Omar’s activism is the release of Palestinian political prisoners of Israel, as his brother was for nine years from 2004-2013.

In the early morning of March 13, members of the Israeli Security Agency (Shabak) first forced entry to the home of Omar’s brother in Ramallah, beating and detaining him, before continuing on to Omar’s home and arresting him in a similar fashion. No charges were provided to Omar at the time of his arrest. Another 23 Palestinians were also arrested the same morning.

The next day, Israel’s Ofer Military Court ordered a 12 day detention and interrogation for Omar, which was appealed by his lawyers. However, the appeal was rejected on March 20 and his detention was later extended to April 4. He has yet to receive charges.

Under Israeli military law, Palestinians can be detained without charge for up to 75 days and banned from meeting with legal counsel for up to 60 days. This law is in direct contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which both demand fair and regular trials and access to lawyers.