US, EU Help to Suppress Journalists, Political Activists
by Khaled Abu Toameh • April 23, 2021 at 5:00 am
The malware, disguised as chat applications, would give the Palestinian Security Services access to targets' phones, including contacts, text messages, locations and even keystrokes, Facebook said. The hacking operation targeted Palestinian journalists, political activists and dissidents.
The Facebook revelation came two weeks after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the Biden administration decided to resume financial aid to the Palestinians, including "vital security assistance programs," a reference to support for the PA security forces.
US taxpayer money, in other words, is going to support a Palestinian security service whose main task is to spy on journalists, political activists and critics of Abbas and the Palestinian leadership. The same, of course, applies to European taxpayer money.
This is certainly not a way to advance prosperity, security, and freedom for Palestinians. On the contrary; by funding the Palestinian security forces, the Biden administration is actually assisting Abbas in his continuous efforts to silence his critics and intimidate journalists and human rights and political activists.
By spying on journalists and political opponents, the Palestinian security forces have violated Article 4 of their own law.....
In the past decade, the PA security forces have arrested or interrogated dozens of Palestinians over critical remarks they posted on Facebook. This crackdown has been largely ignored by the international community, specifically US and European Union donors to the PA.... This indifference has allowed the Palestinian leadership to enforce an atmosphere of menacing intimidation on the Palestinians living under its rule in the West Bank.
Now that Facebook has confirmed the PA's responsibility for hacking the accounts of journalists and political activists, the Biden administration and Western donors are morally obligated to emend their policy of providing financial aid to Abbas's security services.
The donors must make it clear to the Palestinian leadership that the PA security forces are tasked with enforcing law and order and combating terrorism, not misappropriating American and European money to crush their own people.
The time has come to answer the basic question: Why are Americans and Europeans propping up an authoritarian regime, to the tune of millions upon millions per year, that muzzles free speech and spies on reporters and political opponents?
Palestinians have long been accusing the Palestinian Authority (PA) of spying on them by monitoring their activities on various social media platforms, including Facebook. The espionage has resulted in the arrest and persecution of dozens of Palestinians, especially those who dared to criticize PA President Mahmoud Abbas and senior Palestinian officials.
The Palestinians' accusations have now been confirmed by Facebook. This week, it revealed that it had uncovered the hacking activities of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service (PSS), who report to Abbas.
According to Facebook, the PSS "used fake and compromised accounts to create fictitious personas." Posing as young women, journalists and political activists, Abbas's security agency then sought "to build trust with people they targeted and trick them into installing malicious software."
