by Khaled Abu Toameh
• February 26, 2016 at 5:00 am
- A report by the
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor documented 1,391 cases of
Palestinians arbitrarily arrested by the two Palestinian parties,
Fatah and Hamas, in 2015.
- Systematic
torture in Palestinian prisons in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was
documented in the report -- at least 179 cases of torture in
Palestinian Authority (PA) prisons in 2015.
- The PA security
forces are trained and funded by several Western countries,
including the US. This establishes a direct line between these
Western donors and the arbitrary arrests, torture and human rights
violations that have become the norm in PA-controlled prisons and
detention centers.
- The report also
revealed that the Palestinian Authority regularly disobeys court
orders by refusing to release detainees, showing contempt for its
courts and judges.
- Before our
eyes, two police states are being built: one in the West Bank and a
second in the Gaza Strip -- in the face of talk by international
parties of establishing an independent Palestinian state. But the
last thing the Palestinians need is another police state.
Professor Abdul Sattar Qassem (left) stated in a TV
interview that those who collaborate with Israel should receive the death
penalty. The Palestinian Authority leadership considered this
"incitement" against President Mahmoud Abbas (right), and arrested
Qassem.
Palestinians who incite violence against Israel are called
Palestinian leaders. Palestinians who beg to differ with Palestinian
Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas or one of his friends are called
criminals and can expect to be interrogated and/or imprisoned.
The PA leadership has always clamped down on its critics, including
journalists, editors, academics, human rights activists and parliament
members. In this regard, the PA and its president show a distinct
similarity to the other dictators that run the Arab world.
Like the legendary Japanese monkeys who see no evil, hear no evil
and speak no evil, the international media regularly turns a blind eye to
blatant Palestinian Authority abuses. But here's a newsflash for them:
Say you don't like Abbas and you face arrest or interrogation on charges
of "insulting His Excellency."
Take, for example, the case of Professor Abdul Sattar Qassem, who
teaches Political Science at An-Najah University in Nablus.
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