How Israel justifies increased arrest rate of Palestinians
The number of Palestinians in Israeli jails has increased as detainees are accused of incitement against Israel on social media.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — At the onset of 2016, the number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons increased significantly, specifically those detained for social media posts. This is the latest Israeli strategy against Palestinians to halt the uprising.
In the last three months of 2015, 130 Palestinians were arrested on the grounds of inciting violence on Facebook, while in March 2016, 148 Palestinians were arrested for the same reason.
The Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies (PPCS) stated in a report published May 17 that 28 Palestinian women were arrested in the West Bank on the grounds of incitement through Facebook. They served administrative detention sentences and spent from 45 days to six months in jail. Four of them remain in Israeli prisons to complete their prison sentence.
On Feb. 20, Israel unveiled a special task force, Hatzav, to monitor Arab and Palestinian social media outlets. The unit was established 10 years ago to provide Israel’s military intelligence, Aman, with useful information to make decisions and conduct security operations.
