A major human rights nongovernmental organization criticized the Palestinian authorities for violating freedom of expression today.
On May 7, Amnesty International released a statement saying that five Palestinians had been arrested by Palestinian officials in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in March and April. Both territories put a state of emergency in place in March to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The arrested were merely critical of the Palestinian authorities online and their detentions were not warranted, the organization’s deputy head for the Middle East and North Africa said.
“Authorities in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip have violated the right to freedom of expression by arbitrarily detaining individuals solely for peacefully sharing their views on social media,” said Saleh Higazi in the release. “This must immediately stop.”
The West Bank is considered by most countries to be occupied by Israel. However, the Palestinian Authority (PA) controls some parts of the territory, while other areas Israel controls directly. The Gaza Strip is governed internally solely by Hamas, though Israel controls its external borders. Amnesty International frequently criticizes Israel’s actions in both territories, including restrictions of Palestinians’ movement.
AL-MONITOR All-Access gives you unlimited access to all our journalism, the full Daily Briefing, exclusive interviews, premium newsletters, and live events — for less than $2/week.
