Hundreds of Palestinians gathered in the city center of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday in protest of the Palestinian Authority’s killing of popular activist and dissident Nizar Banat earlier this summer.
Surprising to some, the demonstration ended with no state violence against the protesters. Previous protests in Ramallah and other areas of the West Bank over the killing of Banat ended in extreme suppression by PA forces and plain clothes loyalists from President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party.
The demonstration came on the heels of a wave of arrests by the PA targeting prominent Palestinian activists, scholars, and critics of Abbas’ regime, who have been active in calling for transparency and accountability over the killing of Banat. Wednesday’s protest sent a resounding message to the PA that people would not be deterred by the government’s suppression tactics.
Over the course of the weekend, the PA arrested at least 28 activists, the majority of whom were detained on Sunday during a peaceful demonstration in Ramallah, as they called for the release of those who had been arrested a day prior.
The protesters on Sunday were arrested as they demonstrated outside the judicial headquarters in Ramallah, as a hearing for those detained on Saturday was ongoing. The PA justified the arrests by claiming that the demonstration was held without a permit.
Among those detained were prominent Palestinian figures like architect Khaldoun Bishara, activist Fadi Quran, writer and poet Zakaria Mohammed, filmmaker Mohammad al-Attar, journalist Omar Nazzal, and former political prisoners in Israel, Maher al-Akhras and Khader Adnan.
Other detainees, like Ubai Aboudi, the head of Bisan Center for Research and Development, had recently been detained by the PA as recently as a few weeks ago over their participation in previous protests over Banat’s killing.
Some of the detainees were released a day after their arrest, while others had their detentions extended. By Tuesday, after mounting local and international pressure, all the detainees had been released.
According to rights groups, many of the activists were charged for questionable offenses including “instigating sectarian strife” and “slandering higher authorities”.
Accusations of mistreatment
Following their release, many of the detainees took to social media to recount their experiences in PA detention, which some described as “humiliating” and “dire.”
Activist and Campaign Director at Avaaz, Fadi Quran, detailed his experience through his lawyer, who said that Quran was physically assaulted during his detention. In a statement released by Avaaz, Quran’s lawyer described the conditions of his holding cell as “dire,” saying “he is being forced to sleep on the floor, in an over-populated cell, with an exposed toilet, a smell of sewage, and mold on the walls, in a clear breach of Covid public health regulations.”
Speaking via his lawyer, Quran said: “one of the main questions in my interrogation last night was about why I was handing out Palestinian flags. It’s really unbelievable that as a Palestinian I am being interrogated for holding a Palestinian flag. Making it illegal to hold a Palestinian flag is a tactic that has been used by the Israelis since 1948.”
In a post on Facebook, Khaldun Bishara said “the detention conditions are humiliating and crowded, even sheep couldn’t stand it.” He noted that several of the detainees went on hunger strike after a PA security officer insulted and physically insulted former political prisoner Khader Adnan.
Palestinian writer and poet Zakaria Mohammed wrote on social media that “our arrest was done outside of the law and without reason, it was to send a message to everyone. This message is: ‘There isn’t anyone too big in this country (to get away with opposing the PA).'”
International criticism
The PA has come under heavy criticism from the international community, including members of the U.S. Congress, following the detention of the activists and suppression of peaceful protests over the weekend.
Several progressive House democrats, including Palestinian-American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib spoke out against the PA, with Tlaib directing her criticism at at Abbas, saying “Shame on you for suppressing Palestinian voices who are trying to seek liberation from not only the Israeli apartheid government, but from your corrupt leadership.”
“Palestinians face enough danger and oppression without their own government imprisoning them simply for peacefully protesting police brutality,” she said.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar called for the immediate release of the protesters, while congresswoman Cori Bush took to Twitter to say “shame on the Palestinian Authority,” likening its treatment of the activists to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
“Suppressing dissent and criminalizing protest only deepens the violence of Israel’s apartheid system. We stand with Palestinians against the violence of the Palestinian Authority’s authoritarianism. Freedom for political prisoners now,” Bush said.
Representatives of the European Union also released a statement condemning the arrests, saying “violence against peaceful human rights defenders, activists and protesters is unacceptable.”
“The EU and like-minded missions call on the Palestinian Authority to swiftly conclude the investigation of the death of Nizar Banat in a fully transparent manner, and to ensure that those responsible are held accountable,” the statement said.
The UN also said it was “deeply concerned” over the arrests of “those seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in Palestine.”
