On Oct. 16, a Palestinian Authority (PA) military court handed down a year-and-a-half jail sentence to Osama Mansour Abu Arab, a communications officer with the Palestinian security services in charge of public relations. Abu Arab, who served in the unit responsible for security coordination with Israel, received a quick court martial in Ramallah after he used his Facebook page to mock Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his decision to participate in the funeral of Israeli leader Shimon Peres.

“You can visit the mother of Yasser Hamduna [convicted of murdering an Israeli in 2003], who died in Israeli custody [on Sept. 25], and ask her what she thinks [about your attending the funeral],” Abu Arab wrote Sept. 30. He then went on to say that if Abbas made the decision to participate in the funeral on his own, he was wrong, and if he was following the suggestion of his advisers, he was misguided. “There should be no personal or friendly relations with the occupier, as long as they continue with their arrogant policies against our people,” Abu Arab asserted.

A few hours after Abu Arab's post appeared and became a hot topic in the PA, police showed up at his house to arrest him. Four days later, he was brought before a military court and sentenced. The severe sentence shocked not only Abu Arab’s family, but the entire Palestinian community in the West Bank and caused a huge commotion on social networks. It was because of this public pressure that Abbas, who also serves as commander in chief of the Palestinian Security Services, decided to pardon Abu Arab, although he was not reinstated to his job.

The “Abu Arab incident,” as it is being called by Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, has shone a spotlight on the issue of freedom of expression, especially the persecution of journalists by the Palestinian security forces. Journalists are afraid to do their job, worried that they could be sent to jail if they dare to criticize the PA and its leader.