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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220802-the-pa-is-gradually-being-cornered-by-palestinian-society/">middleeastmonitor.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The PA is gradually being cornered by Palestinian society</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ramona Wadi <br></div></div><hr><div class="gmail-content">
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August 2, 2022 at 5:37 pm </span>
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<p>Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, does not tolerate any
political thought that is divergent from his brand of corruption. While
the murder of Palestinian activist, Nizar Banat, last year by the PA's
security services was marked with prominence, the PA has persisted in
persecuting Palestinian activists, university students and journalists,
under the pretext of safety for Palestinian civilians. Abbas has,
perhaps, conveniently wiped out the memory of Palestinians being beaten
for protesting against his rule and the security services' murder of
Banat. The only safety Abbas wants concerns his rule. It could be said
that possibly the PA is funded only to exist as a buffer zone between
Palestinian civilians and Israel's colonial expansion and violence, for
Israel's benefit, of course.</p>
<p>In 2021, Lawyers for Justice <a href="https://lawyers4justice.ps/more-than-340-political-arrests-in-2021/" target="_blank">recorded</a>
more than 340 arrests made by the PA. Between May and November last
year, more than 200 Palestinians were arrested, based upon their
political opinions.</p>
<p>In June this year, Israeli media <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/14-pa-security-officers-accused-of-beating-abbas-critic-to-death-freed-on-bail/" target="_blank">reported</a>
that 14 security services officers on trial for Banat's murder have
been released on bail, ostensibly due to the risk of a coronavirus
spread in prison. The selective release, of course, fools nobody.
Releasing officers who are clearly a threat to Palestinian civilians is
of no concern to the PA, but rather a necessity.</p>
<p>Last month, the PA security services embarked on another raid targeting Palestinian students, activists and journalists. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/29/palestinian-authority-arrest-campaign-one-of-the-worst-in" target="_blank">According</a>
to Muhannad Karajeh from Lawyers for Justice, the latest PA raid which
led to the arrest of 94 civilians was one of the biggest since 2012.
Most Palestinians detained were affiliated to Palestinian political
factions critical of the PA, notably Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic
Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. A majority
were also former prisoners in Israeli jails, which is a reminder of how
the PA and Israel often collaborate when it comes to detaining
Palestinians. According to the spokesman for the Palestinian security
services Talal Dweikat, Abbas's orders were <a>given</a>
based "on the importance of exerting all the pressure possible to
address all manifestations of chaos and disorder in the Palestinian
street."</p>
<p><strong>READ: <a title="Fatah official criticises 2021 decision to cancel parliamentary election" href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220802-fatah-official-criticises-2021-decision-to-cancel-parliamentary-election/">Fatah official criticises 2021 decision to cancel parliamentary election</a></strong></p>
<p>Combating protests with violence will only increase protests against
Abbas's rule. With Banat's murder, the PA has shown exactly how far it
will go to counter the most formidable threats to its illegitimate rule.
The latter has been a subject of a recent <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/25/palestinian-lawyers-protest-against-abbas-governing-by-decree" target="_blank">protest</a>
by the Palestinian Bar Association, which is speaking out against
Abbas's ruling through decrees which the Palestinian Constitution only
allows as a necessity.</p>
<p>And while Abbas may be more concerned about challenges posed by
activists, society is increasingly revolting against the PA. Yesterday,
the Palestinian Engineers Syndicate also staged a protest in front of
the PA's Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh's headquarters <a href="https://www.arabnews.com/node/2133946/middle-east" target="_blank">demanding</a> financial rights and the implementation of signed financial agreements.</p>
<p>With discontent rife among all sectors of Palestinian society, the
meagre concessions Abbas managed to negotiate with Israeli Defence
Minister, Benny Gantz, will provide no buffer zone for the conditions
Abbas and Israel have created. While the arrests certainly depict the
brute force of the PA's security services, the increase in protests
testifies to the fact that soon, possibly, Palestinians will unleash a
united front against decades of PA donor-funded corruption.</p>
<p>The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
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