A WEYMOUTH student was arrested and thrown into jail after taking part in a protest in the Middle East.

Rhys Samuel, 22, of Wyke Regis, travelled to Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement which claims it protests peacefully in the West Bank and Gaza, to campaign for civil rights in the conflict stricken area.

Mr Samuel, who had been in the country for two weeks, was arrested on Saturday afternoon along with four others while attending a protest in the town of Hebron on the West Bank.

He had his passport confiscated and spent a night in an Israeli jail before appearing in court.

A judge in Jerusalem gave Mr Samuel a ban from future illegal protests. A sentence Mr Samuel described as ‘lenient’.

The former All Saints and Thomas Hardye School pupil was protesting the closure of the main street of Hebron, with other international protestors, as well as Israelis and Palestinians.

The demonstration was against the closure of Shuhada Street, the main route through the town to Palestinians.

It was closed in 1994 after an Israeli gunman killed 29 Muslim worshippers at a local mosque.

Palestinians are not allowed to walk down the street now.

Activists say that the street used to be a thriving shopping centre and it is now a ghost town.

Mr Samuel said the arrests were ‘completely unprovoked and unnecessary’ as the pro- tests were peaceful.

He said: “The Israeli army blocked the route the protest march normally takes.

“We stopped and chanted and some people held up placards.

“I was grabbed around the neck by a soldier and pushed some metres backwards.

“After a minute or so the soldiers came back and arrested me and one of my friends.

“They ripped my shirt and I had to sit in my trial bare-chested.”

He added: “The Israeli state is terrified of peaceful protest and they are trying to smash the dissent in Hebron. The protests in Hebron are the most peaceful I have seen. The army only knows how to respond to violence.”

Mr Samuel studied at the University of Warwick where he got involved in Palestinian activism.

He said: “I believe it is the most important thing for people to be campaigning on at the moment.”