This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.Bassel al-Araj (Arabic: باسل الأعرج, 1984 — March 5, 2017) was a Palestinian activist, writer and author.

Known for his writings about revolution and Arab nationalism,[1][2][3] Al-Araj was killed on 6 March 2017 by a unit belonging to Israel’s Yamam police force, after a gunfight lasting nearly two hours broke out as they attempted to raid his home.

[15][6] During their imprisonment in the PA-administered prison, an Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association’s attorney "confirmed that the detainees were subjected to different forms of ill-treatment, including sitting in stress positions (Shabah), sleep deprivation, continued interrogation, beating all over the body, insults and denial of using bathroom.

Israeli forces tracked al-Araj and repeatedly served warrants authorizing them to search his family's home and properties.

[4] He was engaged by the Israeli forces in a two-hour gunfight, during which the IDF fired an ENERGA anti-tank rifle grenade, resulting in the partial destruction of the building.

[23] Mounir Shafik claims that al-Araj chose to hide and resist till the last day of his life rather than go to his family’s house because he wanted his death to be an inspiration for other Palestinians to ignite another intifada.

[24] Al-Araj's family reacted to his death by condemning not only Israeli forces for killing him but also the Palestinian Authority for their collusion with the latter.

Al-Araj's mother, Siham, condemned both the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority for their treatment of him, claiming “Israeli soldiers killed him, but the PA paved the way for them."

Similarly, his sister Doha condemned the state's media for abandoning al-Araj and his comrades, and called the PA "complicit in Bassel’s killing".

[32] Protests continued in Amman, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, London, Milan, Rabat, Tunis and Vienna, and New York.

In 2017, a group of activists from Gaza made a video of Al-Araj addressing them and saying his motto, which was amplified after his death: “If you want to be an intellectual, you’d better be an engaged one.”[33] His close friend, Hamza Aqrabawi commented: “Bassel was a beacon for the youth, and he left a mark on all those working to collect Palestinian history.