Israelis Arrest Two Americans

WASHINGTON –– Israeli authorities have arrested two Americans affiliated with relief organizations, including a Muslim commentator who recently described by telephone and in e-mails the destruction he saw in Jenin, a supporter said Monday.

Riad Abdelkarim, a physician from the Los Angeles area, was detained Sunday at Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport while trying to return to the United States, said Khalid Turaani of the Washington-based American Muslims for Jerusalem. Israeli authorities called his wife in California on Sunday and urged her to hire an attorney, Turaani said.

Abdelkarim, who has written opinion pieces on Muslim issues for major U.S. newspapers, serves on the board of American Muslims for Jerusalem and chairman of a new charity, Kinder-USA, organized to provide aid to Palestinian children. Abdelkarim also is the Western region communications director for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.