silencing dissent

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Cybertech Israel Conference and Exhibition, in Tel Aviv, attended by thousands of leading multi-national corporates, SMB's, start-ups, private and corporate investors, venture capital firms, experts and clients. January 31, 2016. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Israeli colonialism goes digital

Israel's collaboration with tech companies has turned social media from a tool of free political speech to a means of censoring and repressing Palestinians.

By Anwar Mhajne May 25, 2021

Esther Pollard, wife of convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, walks past a poster of her husband prior to speaking to press outside her home in Jerusalem, July 29, 2015. (Flash90)

Praising the Ashkenazi spy, punishing the Mizrahi dissident

For Israel, Jonathan Pollard's aiding of the Jewish state erases the criminality of his treason; Mordechai Vanunu's whistleblowing makes him a threat.

By Omri Najad December 31, 2020

Graffiti depicting Leila Khaled on the separation wall in Bethlehem, the occupied West Bank, May 27, 2012. (Bluewind/Wikimedia)

From Palestine to China, Zoom has no business censoring dissent

Tech giants are acting as internet gatekeepers, dictating what narratives are permissible and who can freely express their opinions.

By Marwa Fatafta October 26, 2020

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Laith Abu Zeyad and his mother, Zubayda Khatib, in Jerusalem on March 11, 2018.

Why is Israel preventing me from accompanying my mother to chemotherapy?

Israel is punishing human rights defenders for exposing its violations by restricting our movement under the pretense of 'security.'

By Laith Abu Zeyad December 12, 2019

A Palestinian youth points to logos of Facebook and WhatsApp on his computer in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip February 22, 2014. (Photo Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

‘Incitement’ and ‘indecency’: How Palestinian dissent is repressed online

Censorship of Palestinian content by Israel, the PA, and Hamas is escalating at an unprecedented and dangerous speed.

By Marwa Fatafta December 4, 2019

Palestinian protesters against negotiations with the Israeli government clash with Palestinian riot police on August 28, 2013, after protesters were banned from approaching Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

Palestinian Authority, Hamas use torture to silence dissent, report finds

A new report by Human Rights Watch documents dozens of cases whereby the Palestinian authorities in both the West Bank and Gaza use arbitrary arrest and torture to repress critics. A new Human Rights Watch (HRW) investigation published Tuesday draws on 86 cases of arbitrary arrest, abuse, and torture by Fatah and Hamas authorities in the West Bank…

By Samer Badawi October 23, 2018

Israeli police arrests a Palestinian protester at a demonstration for the release of hunger striker Mohammad Allan, outside of Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon, Israel. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Want to combat Israeli authoritarianism? Listen to Palestinians

Jewish and international observers are constantly having to catch up to what Palestinians have always known about Israel. This needs to change. In his 1963 book The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin wrote a profound personal letter to his young nephew (also named James), in which he poignantly described the dehumanizing world that Black people…

By Amjad Iraqi August 16, 2018

File photo of police blocking the entrance to a building in Tel Aviv. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Police target second ‘Breaking the Silence’ event in a week

Senior police brass hound venue over minor business license violations. Police shut down a similar Breaking the Silence event last week citing right-wing threats against it. For the second time in a week, Israeli police have imposed restrictions on Breaking the Silence lectures scheduled to take place in private venues. The owners of those venues…

By Haggai Matar November 30, 2015