- Abdel Aziz Duwaik
Abdel Aziz Duwaik (Arabic: عبد العزيز دويك) is a member of
Hamas , and the currentSpeaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council sinceJanuary 18 ,2006 . Duwaik was auniversity professor atAn-Najah National University inNablus on theWest Bank . He holds a PhD in Regional and Architecture Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.Duwaik has been arrested many times and was exiled from the
Palestinian territories and sent to southernLebanon along with 400 other Hamas members by the Rabin administration in 1992. [cite news | first=Ali | last=Waked | authorlink= | coauthors= | title='Our model is Muhammad': Hamas candidate for PA parliament speaks to Ynet about his views of the future | url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3217215,00.html | work=Ynetnews | date= 2006-02-16 | accessdate=2008-04-19 ]Abdel Aziz Duwaik was arrested by
Israel onJune 29 ,2006 as part of Israel'sOperation Summer Rains . He was later released and then rearrestedAugust 6 ,2006 . Duwaik claims he was severely beaten while in custody. Duwaik's lawyers have also claimed that he is being held in unsanitary conditions.cite news | title = Hamas speaker charged in Israel | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5275340.stm | work = BBC News | date = 2006-08-22 | accessdate=2008-04-19 ] In August 2006 Duwaik was charged in Israel for being of being a member of Hamas along with charges of being in contact withKhaled Meshaal , leader of Hamas. Duwaik claimed that this was a "political trial" and stated that he did not recognize it. Duwaik accused Israel of using "political blackmail" and claimed that his arrest was in violation of international law. Duwaik (along with a number of other Palestinian ministers and parliament members) was imprisoned in spite of his parliamentary immunity.References
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