By Khalid Amayreh – The West Bank
Palestine Chronicle
"When the Beirut-based Al-Quds satellite television interviewed me last week on the recent genocidal Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, it never occurred to me that the few sound bites I uttered would land me in a slimy prison cell at the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Preventive Security Apparatus (PSA) in Hebron.
During that interview, I was asked why the American-backed regime in Ramallah was not allowing large protests in solidarity with the Gaza Strip. I answered that the PA didn't want things to get out of control and that it didn't wish to antagonize Israel.
Interestingly, Israel itself had allowed a massive demonstration against the war on Gaza to take place in the Israeli Arab town of Sakhnin where as many as 150,000 people, including some Jewish peace activists, took to the streets to protest the nauseating killings and bombings of civilian targets all over the coastal enclave.
I further pointed out that Israel didn't really respect the PA and was effectively treating it as a subservient entity serving Israeli interests.......
On Jan. 18, shortly afternoon, someone from the local PSA center invited me to drink a cup of coffee with the head of office for five minutes. Eventually, the "five minutes" were stretched into 55 hours of nightmarish experience......
Half an hour later, I was taken to the PSA headquarters in Hebron, 14 kilometers away. There, I was scolded for "besmirching and distorting the PA image," "sowing discontent," and "indulging in incitement." ......
I told my interrogators that what they were doing was against the law, since the Palestinian law stated that "the security apparatus has no right to question, interrogate or detain a journalist in connection to his or her work." When I uttered these words, one operative scoffed at me, saying that "we are in Palestine, not in Sweden." .......
....... However, I did forcefully argue that suppressing freedom of expression, especially press freedom, was a very harmful idea. I further explained that when people are made to fear the government, it means that that the government is undemocratic and had a lot of things to hid from the people.......
I knew that the main aim behind my brief but unjustified incarceration was to make me exercise "self-censorship" and refrain from calling things by their real names.......
Palestine Chronicle
"When the Beirut-based Al-Quds satellite television interviewed me last week on the recent genocidal Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip, it never occurred to me that the few sound bites I uttered would land me in a slimy prison cell at the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Preventive Security Apparatus (PSA) in Hebron.
During that interview, I was asked why the American-backed regime in Ramallah was not allowing large protests in solidarity with the Gaza Strip. I answered that the PA didn't want things to get out of control and that it didn't wish to antagonize Israel.
Interestingly, Israel itself had allowed a massive demonstration against the war on Gaza to take place in the Israeli Arab town of Sakhnin where as many as 150,000 people, including some Jewish peace activists, took to the streets to protest the nauseating killings and bombings of civilian targets all over the coastal enclave.
I further pointed out that Israel didn't really respect the PA and was effectively treating it as a subservient entity serving Israeli interests.......
On Jan. 18, shortly afternoon, someone from the local PSA center invited me to drink a cup of coffee with the head of office for five minutes. Eventually, the "five minutes" were stretched into 55 hours of nightmarish experience......
Half an hour later, I was taken to the PSA headquarters in Hebron, 14 kilometers away. There, I was scolded for "besmirching and distorting the PA image," "sowing discontent," and "indulging in incitement." ......
I told my interrogators that what they were doing was against the law, since the Palestinian law stated that "the security apparatus has no right to question, interrogate or detain a journalist in connection to his or her work." When I uttered these words, one operative scoffed at me, saying that "we are in Palestine, not in Sweden." .......
....... However, I did forcefully argue that suppressing freedom of expression, especially press freedom, was a very harmful idea. I further explained that when people are made to fear the government, it means that that the government is undemocratic and had a lot of things to hid from the people.......
I knew that the main aim behind my brief but unjustified incarceration was to make me exercise "self-censorship" and refrain from calling things by their real names.......
Unfortunately, very few people within the Palestinian security establishment understand the language of human rights and civil liberties......
Hence, one would exaggerate very little by saying that the situation of human rights and civil liberties is the West Bank is probably worse today than it ever has been since the establishment of the PA more than 15 years ago.
Rampant Violations
In truth, my latest experience pales in comparison to the more serious persecution haunting non-conformist journalists throughout the West Bank. Last week, PA security personnel assaulted and severely beat AP correspondent Majdee Ishtayyeh while filming an "unlicensed" demonstration in Ramallah. Ishtayya reportedly was taken to a nearby building where he was badly beaten, causing a severe hemorrhage from his nose.....
Last year, as many as 20 Palestinian journalists were imprisoned for relatively lengthy periods for reporting news or views the PA regime considers detrimental to their interests or image. Many of these journalists were beaten and even tortured for refusing to abide by the "official line." And in nearly all cases, concocted charges were leveled against them, such as "sowing division, incitement, and endangering national unity."
Last year, Awad Rajoub, an Al-Jazeera.net correspondent was detained in a PSA prison cell in Hebron in what he described "harsh and humiliating conditions" for 32 days.....Rajoub was accused of interviewing critics of the PA......
During my brief stint at the Hebron jail, I saw several inmates being subjected to the Shabah (hooding) technique where a prisoner is made to sit down in a small room with his hands tied to his back. At one point, I heard an inmate crying "why are you beating me, why are you beating me." ........"
Hence, one would exaggerate very little by saying that the situation of human rights and civil liberties is the West Bank is probably worse today than it ever has been since the establishment of the PA more than 15 years ago.
Rampant Violations
In truth, my latest experience pales in comparison to the more serious persecution haunting non-conformist journalists throughout the West Bank. Last week, PA security personnel assaulted and severely beat AP correspondent Majdee Ishtayyeh while filming an "unlicensed" demonstration in Ramallah. Ishtayya reportedly was taken to a nearby building where he was badly beaten, causing a severe hemorrhage from his nose.....
Last year, as many as 20 Palestinian journalists were imprisoned for relatively lengthy periods for reporting news or views the PA regime considers detrimental to their interests or image. Many of these journalists were beaten and even tortured for refusing to abide by the "official line." And in nearly all cases, concocted charges were leveled against them, such as "sowing division, incitement, and endangering national unity."
Last year, Awad Rajoub, an Al-Jazeera.net correspondent was detained in a PSA prison cell in Hebron in what he described "harsh and humiliating conditions" for 32 days.....Rajoub was accused of interviewing critics of the PA......
During my brief stint at the Hebron jail, I saw several inmates being subjected to the Shabah (hooding) technique where a prisoner is made to sit down in a small room with his hands tied to his back. At one point, I heard an inmate crying "why are you beating me, why are you beating me." ........"
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