Palestinians expel band conductor in Holocaust row

By Wael al-Ahmed

JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian security in the West Bank detained and then deported to Israel a youth orchestra director who angered local leaders by taking the group to perform before Holocaust survivors in Israel, officials said.

Wafa Younis, head of the "Strings of Freedom" orchestra, said on Wednesday she was visiting the building where her group normally meets in Jenin refugee camp on Monday when armed men in plain clothes took her into custody.

Younis's orchestra performed last week in Israel before an audience that included about 10 women who survived the Holocaust. The performance sparked a backlash in the camp, which was the site of fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants in 2002.

Many Palestinians say that drawing attention to the murder of six million Jews in World War Two helps Israel justify the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948, an act which displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Younis said the men who detained her in the refugee camp included Zakaria al-Zubeidi, a local leader of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant group linked to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction.

Zubeidi has agreed to stop fighting Israel in exchange for amnesty and he now cooperates with Abbas's security forces, sleeps at their compound and has become active in local theater.

The commander of Palestinian security forces in Jenin, Radhi Assidha, said he told Younis after her arrest that she was not permitted to work in the refugee camp.

"I warned her not to enter the Jenin area at all for the time being in order to keep her safety," Assidha told Reuters, citing threats against her life by the parents of some of her music students.

"INNOCENT CHILDREN"

Palestinian security forces then took Younis, an Israeli Arab, to a nearby Israeli checkpoint where she was released into Israel, where she lives.

"She used innocent children to carry out a political agenda," Assidha said. "Instead of taking them for recreation, she took them to participate in a day to commemorate the Holocaust. She exploited the children in an ugly way."

Adnan Hindi, an official in the refugee camp, said Younis broke the rules against holding "political" performances by taking the 18 boys and girls to the concert near Tel Aviv.

Younis said the show was part of a goodwill day sponsored by an Israeli businesswoman and philanthropist.

Younis, who denies having any political agenda, said she felt "very sad and sorry" about the reaction in the refugee camp, where she has volunteered for the last six years, and "apologized for any offence" to the Palestinian people.

"My calling is to serve the Palestinian cause and to prove to the whole world that we are a people of culture and that we love music, which is the language of peace," she said. "I have hope that I will be able to go back to Jenin refugee camp soon."

(Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Jonathan Wright)