<div dir="ltr">
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<font size="1"><a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210624-why-did-the-pa-kill-nizar-banat/">https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210624-why-did-the-pa-kill-nizar-banat/</a></font>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Why did the PA kill Nizar Banat?</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Motasem A Dalloul - June 24, 2021</div></div>
<hr>
<div class="gmail-content">
<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div id="gmail-post-content"> <p>Today
at dawn, Palestinians across the occupied territories were shocked to
learn that a well-known activist in the occupied West Bank city of
Hebron, Nizar Banat, had been killed by Palestinian Authority security
forces.</p> <p>The PA Governor in Hebron, Jibreen Al-Bakri, issued a
statement about the killing. He claimed that the security forces aimed
to enforce the law as they went to detain Banat on the basis of a
detention order issued by the Public Prosecutor. He said that the
activist died during the detention process due to health problems. He
did not mention the "brutal" and "barbaric" way that Banat was beaten on
his head and face. Bakri said that Banat was transferred to hospital,
but his friends and family have searched for him everywhere, and insist
that wherever he was taken, it was not to hospital.</p> <p>According to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/101737031648310/posts/306184997870178/" target="_blank">Banat's family</a>,
"The PA security services detonated the door of the house, broke into
the building and immediately started beating [Banat] with iron bars and
batons while he was asleep, along with two of his brothers. They emptied
three bottles of pepper powder in his face when he got up; stripped him
of his clothes; lynched him; insulted him while he was bleeding;
kidnapped him; took him to an unknown location; and murdered him."</p> <p>Palestinian
factions, leaders, activists and international officials have condemned
Banat's "murder". The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas,
described what happened as a "full-fledged crime that reflects the
bloody policy of the PA." It blamed the government of Mohammad Shtayyeh
for "this unethical crime which is rejected by all Palestinians and
unacceptable to all Palestinian traditions and norms."</p> <p><strong>READ: <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210622-when-will-the-palestinians-unite/">When will the Palestinians unite?</a> </strong></p> <p>The UN Envoy to the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/TWennesland/status/1407984903560511488" target="_blank">twitter</a>:
"Alarmed & saddened by the death of activist, former parliamentary
candidate, Nizar Banat following his arrest by [Palestinian security
forces] in Hebron… I call for a swift, independent & transparent
investigation. Perpetrators must be brought to justice."</p> <p>The EU Delegation to the Palestinians also turned to <a href="https://twitter.com/EUpalestinians/status/1407971830443528195" target="_blank">Twitter</a>:
"Shocked and saddened by the death of activist and former legislative
candidate Nizar Banat following his arrest by the PA security forces
last night. Full, independent, and transparent investigation should be
conducted immediately."</p> <p>The UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Palestine, Lynn Hastings, <a href="https://twitter.com/LynnHastings/status/1407967579403128833" target="_blank">added</a>:
"Disturbing news on the death of activist Nizar Banat shortly after his
arrest by Palestinian Security Forces from his home in Hebron. I note
that an investigation has been initiated and call on the authorities to
ensure that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice."</p> <p>Palestinian
activists and journalists joined in the condemnation of the killing of
Banat. Some made it clear that, in their view, he was "murdered" by the
PA.</p> <p>"The PA murdered Nizar Banat in a shameful way," said
journalist and activist Ismail Al-Thawabteh. "The liquidation by the PA
of activist Nizar Banat today at dawn is strongly condemned and must be
deterred in order not to be repeated.</p> <div id="gmail-attachment_479809" class="gmail-wp-caption"><p><img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/GettyImages-1233626640.jpg?fit=933%2C622&quality=85&strip=all&zoom=1&ssl=1" alt="The wife (L) of the Palestinian activist Nizar Banat, who died during his arrest by Palestinian security forces, grieves in her house in the village of Dura near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on 24 June 2021. [MOSAB SHAWER/AFP via Getty Images]" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="446" height="297"></p><p class="gmail-wp-caption-text">The
wife (L) of the Palestinian activist Nizar Banat, who died during his
arrest by Palestinian security forces, grieves in her house in the
village of Dura near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on 24 June 2021.
[MOSAB SHAWER/AFP via Getty Images]</p></div><p>Thousands of words have
already been written and spoken about Banat's "murder", and his name has
trended on Twitter. Why, though, did the PA kill him?</p> <p>Nizar
Banat was an outspoken critic of the PA, Fatah and the PLO, all of which
are headed by Mahmoud Abbas. He exposed many cases of corruption linked
to them. The latest example was the PA-Israeli deal to exchange
soon-to-expire Israeli Covid-19 vaccines for newly-produced vaccines
intended for the West Bank. The deal was cancelled after it was exposed.</p> <p>Banat intended to run for the Palestinian parliamentary election, and has been posting videos on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nizar.banat.alajouri/" target="_blank">Facebook</a>
page about PA corruption and criticising the security cooperation
between Ramallah and Israel at the expense of the Palestinian resistance
and the principles of the Palestinian cause.</p> <p>He was arrested
eight times by the PA and tortured because of his views and activism
against PA corruption. He was open about rejecting the peace made by the
PA with Israel because, according to him, it met all the demands of the
Israeli occupation and undermined all the rights of the Palestinians.</p> <p>Recently,
Banat phoned Muhannad Karaja from Lawyers for Justice, and told him
that the PA was threatening him. He explained to Karaja that the PA
intelligence services asked him to end his criticism of the PA and
officials from Fatah and the PLO.</p> <p>This suggests that the PA
killed Nizar Banat to silence him, because he embarrasses the authority
by exposing its conspiracies with the Israeli occupation plotted against
the Palestinians. The PA killed him because he was a nationalist who
believed that the authority is nothing more than a Zionist project
intended to serve the Zionist project in the region.</p> <p>Even though
Prime Minister Shtayyeh has already announced that an investigation will
go ahead, Banat's family, Palestinian activists and rights groups are
sceptical about it being "independent and transparent" as demanded by
representatives of the international community.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the
Palestinian NGO Network has warned that the PA's political crackdown on
its opponents will turn it into "a police state governed by repression
and a disregard for people's lives and their dignity under the reality
of the occupation." It called for PA President Mahmoud Abbas to put an
end to all infringements of civil rights and public freedoms to preserve
the dignity of Palestinian citizens.</p><strong>_____________________</strong><p>The
views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
</div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
</div>