PA Mass Arrests Include Democracy Activists
Linah Alsaafin reports on the mass arrests of students, activists and journalists in the West Bank as part of the Palestinian Authority’s crackdown on dissent.
Hamas has seen a boost in its popularity in both the West Bank and Gaza after its declared victory over Israel's eight-day offensive in Gaza last month. The Fatah-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank even granted permission for Hamas to hold its annual anniversary rallies for the first time since 2007, which encouraged prospects of ending the division to be seen as more feasible than before.
However, digging beneath the surface of speeches and gestures, and the reality that reconciliation is probably going nowhere, the PA in particular has stepped up its campaign of political arrests to undercut the influence of Hamas or other opposition activists.
Defined by the Ramallah-based prisoner rights group Addameer, political arrests are "the arrest or seizure of the freedom of any person against the backdrop of his partisan political affiliation or belief, or opinion, or opposition to or criticism of the existing political system or because of his sympathy with those who oppose this system."
On Sept. 19, the Palestinian Authority security services (the preventive, intelligence, and military intelligence) embarked on a mass arrest campaign, resulting in the arrest of 130 Palestinian men.
