Less than an hour after he posted a post on his Facebook page, the young man, Khaled Muhammad, deleted his words in which he praised the resistance in the Jenin camp, and was forced to replace them with another post in which he sent “a tribute of respect and admiration” to the Palestinian security services, and prayed for “their martyrs, the protectors of the national project, and the nation’s asset.” According to his description, he denounced “conspirators and outlaws.”
What happened with Khaled Muhammad, who is from the Jenin area in the northern West Bank, and with many others, indicates the recent escalation of the security grip on expression of opinion in the West Bank, and has escalated with the intensification of the campaign of the Palestinian Authority’s security services on the Jenin camp since December 5. The past to pursue and arrest those it describes as “outlaws.”
All of this coincided with a systematic incitement campaign led by official and security bodies and those close to them against those who support – in word or deed – the Palestinian resistance, and the Jenin Brigade specifically, and those who joined it from the resistance brigades in the West Bank. According to Palestinian political parties, this policy aims to silence people, restrict public freedoms, and strengthen the security grip on the Palestinians through repressive behavior.
Mandatory apology
There are others like Cheb Khaled who were forced, with direct contact from security authorities, to remove their posts and change what they said and what they spoke, thinking that they were in a free space, even if it was virtual, and they forgot that the limit of their freedom in reality did not exceed the limits of time and place for what he said and wrote.
Among them is Amin Sadiq, who was forced to submit a written apology on his social media pages to the security services for himself and his wife for what they “did” against the children of the security services when they praised those he described as “takfirists, servants of Iran.”
A third apologized for his criticism of the security services through video clips, and others who live outside the country and criticized the behavior of the security services in suppressing the resistance were subjected to threats of harming their relatives, children and parents, in the West Bank.
Video clips showed violations by members of the security services against Palestinian citizens and showing them in an inhumane situation, whether while they were being tortured or apologizing for their opinions, which raised the ire of Palestinian and international human rights institutions.
Anyone who changes his opinion in opposition to the Palestinian Authority or its security services does not need contact or a direct threat of beating or arrest. It is sufficient for him to see with his own eyes what others face in order to know his fate, especially in light of campaigns following citizens’ publications through agencies affiliated with the security forces and under different names, dedicated to monitoring opposition positions.
A violation that threatens civil peace
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (Board of Grievances) confirmed the seriousness of the practices of the security services and forced citizens to apologize for their opposing opinions and show their support for the policies of the Palestinian Authority.
The Commission considered this a clear violation of the law and human rights, and demanded that the Ministry of Interior open a serious and transparent investigation into it, and hold those involved legally accountable.
In parallel with the Commission’s condemnation of mistreatment of citizens and insulting their dignity, it also denounced what it said was “hate speech and incitement spread on social media against security personnel and their families.”
The Palestinian Bar Association considered the published video clips of citizens being beaten by the security services a violation of the provisions of the law, and stressed the seriousness of the current Palestinian stage in light of what the occupation is practicing, and called on what it called “special authorities” to immediately investigate these attacks.
In the ongoing security authority campaign titled “Protecting a Homeland” for about 30 days, 14 Palestinians have been killed so far, including 6 security men, in addition to a journalist, children, and a leader of the Jenin camp battalion, and dozens have been wounded and arrested.
The security campaign in Jenin was accompanied by administrative decisions of some governors in the West Bank, prohibiting the transmission of any actions or statements through social networking sites and similar platforms that “provoke strife and disrupt public security,” and stopping all forms of incitement against the authority and its civil and security agencies.
#Tel Aviv Tribune You receive a statement from a leader in the Jenin Brigade in which he accuses the security of the Palestinian Authority of “killing citizens in cold blood.” What is the most prominent thing in it?#News pic.twitter.com/W7nGpyLVeL
– Tel Aviv Tribune Channel (@AJArabic) January 3, 2025
Warnings
In the face of all this, Palestinian figures and national and Islamic factions warned of the Palestinian Authority’s continued policy of “gagging mouths” and restricting citizens and their public freedoms, and stressed that this would increase the fragmentation in the Palestinian situation and the loss of the basic compass of the struggle directed against the occupation.
These parties, including the Palestinian National Initiative, called for maintaining societal peace, the rule of law, and resorting to national dialogue.
And he warned Secretary General of the National Initiative Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi – in a press statement – expressed the seriousness of what is happening. He said that there is a state of internal polarization called sedition and incitement, “and the perpetuation of the mentality of whoever is not completely with me is against me,” which is causing “more fissures and divisions in the Palestinian arena.”
A threat to the citizen and his opinion
As for the President of the International Law for Palestine Organization Ihsan Adel, he said EThe current situation in Palestine is witnessing an escalation in the wrong direction and a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law and international agreements, which, in his opinion, constitutes a “threat to Palestinian civil peace.”
In contact with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, he said that the practices of the Palestinian Authority, such as the decisions of the governors or the suspension of the work of Tel Aviv Tribune, and the imposition of some ministries on their employees to participate in protests in support of the official Palestinian position, or forcing detainees to apologize for their opinions and torturing some of them are a violation of the Palestinian right to freedom of opinion and expression.
“Many of the wordings contained in these decisions carry an illegal threat to citizens because of their expression of their opinions, and are tainted with unconstitutionality due to their issuance by non-competent parties,” according to Adel.
The human rights activist pointed out that criticizing the performance of the Authority is not only a right for the Palestinian citizen, but rather a necessity for building a democratic society and developing the performance of the Authority itself.
However, Adel says, the recent decisions and the accompanying atmosphere of threat and betrayal by many parties contribute to deepening the internal division and threaten civil peace, at a time when the Palestinians need responsible national dialogue and the commitment of state institutions to the rule of law and their neutrality as entities that represent all of them.
