PA crack-down on all political protest


December 31, 2015
Sarah Benton


PA police stop Palestinian protesters from reaching Israeli checkpoint, December 30th 2015. Photo ActiveStills.

PA security forces suppress peaceful Palestinian march in Ramallah

By Ma’an news
December 30/31. 2015

RAMALLAH– Palestinian Authority security forces on Wednesday prevented a peaceful Palestinian march in Ramallah’s al-Bireh neighborhood from reaching a checkpoint outside the nearby Israeli settlement of Beit El, protesters told Ma’an.

Witnesses told Ma’an that PA forces stopped hundreds of protesters from continuing their march to the Israeli checkpoint by setting up their own flying checkpoints and blockades.

Leading members of the Fatah movement, PLO Executive Committee members, and officials from other Palestinian factions were reportedly present for the demonstration.

Dozens of youth left the march after Palestinian forces suppressed the protest, and instead headed to an area in al-Bireh near the illegal Israeli settlement of Psegot where protesters clashed with Israeli forces.

PA security forces last week also blocked protesters from reaching the illegal Beit El settlement area. The forces reporteldy assaulted several journalists and prevented them from covering clashes that broke out between the forces and protesters at the time.

A Palestinian media rights group launched an investigation into the incident and demanded that the Palestinian Authority hold security forces accountable for violations committed against the media.

In September, the PA came under fire after a local journalist caught PA police forces on camera beating protesters in the street while attempting to prevent youth from protesting in front of a military site behind Israel’s separation wall near the northern entrance of Bethlehem city.

As the video rapidly spread throughout social networks, as well as local and international media, PA officials spoke out against the incident, however protests against the PA and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas went on for several days.

Following the outrage, the PA announced that nine PA officers, including five high-ranking officers, would face disciplinary action over the attack.


Group urges investigations into PA violations against journalists

By Ma’an news
December 28/30 2015

RAMALLAH — Palestinian Authority security forces came under fire Monday from a Palestinian media rights group for a violent assault carried out on journalists in the Ramallah area last week.

PA security forces wearing civilian clothing on Friday assaulted several journalists and prevented them from covering clashes that broke out between the forces and protesters in al-Bireh, according to an investigation by the Palestinian Centre for Developments and Media Freedoms (MADA).

The watchdog said in a statement said that “violent means” used by PA security forces during the incident indicated the “violation of laws” which guarantee freedom of expression.

The forces reportedly beat and detained the journalists, preventing them from news coverage while inspecting and seizing their equipment.

A correspondent for Palestine Today TV, Jehad Barakat, told MADA that a “human chain” of PA security forces were blocking the path of a demonstration heading toward the illegal Beit El settlement Friday, when clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and the guards.

“My colleague started filming, however, five or six people wearing civilian clothes violently caught him, resulting in tearing his shirt in addition to confiscating his camera,” Barakat told MADA.

“They dragged me and my colleague away for around 20 metres after I asked the reasons for preventing the filming of the march,” Barakat continued.

The reporters were detained for several hours and all photo and video footage of the march was deleted, Barakat said. MADA urged the PA to hold those responsible for Fridays’ violations against journalists accountable.
The group has documented such incidents in the past, reporting in June that violations by Palestinian security forces in 2014 were at their highest since 2008.

Palestinian journalists also come under severe restrictions and violations from Israeli forces, last year marking a particularly deadly year for reporters, 17 of whom were reportedly killed by Israeli forces during the war in the Gaza Strip.

© Copyright JFJFP 2024