Association
On 16th June 2024, the Haifa District Court ruled to place activist Muhammad Jabareen under house arrest under strict conditions after he was arrested on 19th October 2023 during a peaceful protest in Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, as previously documented. According to Adalah, the case is unprecedented as “it marks the first time that the state prosecutor has filed an indictment for incitement to terrorism against PCI (Palestinian Citizen in Israel) non-violent and non-disruptive demonstrators”.
According to the Israeli police as of 1st May 2024, over 160 indictments have been filed concerning charges of incitement to terrorism, almost exclusively against Palestinian Citizens in Israel and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. According to Adalah, since 7th October 2023, the state attorney’s office's official policy is to seek detention until the end of legal proceedings in all cases involving charges of incitement to terrorism.
In separate developments, on 7th April 2024, Walid Daqqah, a terminally ill Palestinian prisoner, died in an Israeli jail after having spent 38 years imprisoned, as a result of systematic medical neglect, torture and other ill-treatment, including physical attacks while in prison. Daqqah was convicted in 1987 for commanding the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)-affiliated group that had abducted and killed an Israeli soldier. On 16th April 2024, Adalah, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, filed a petition to the Israeli Supreme Court on behalf of Walid Daqqah’s family to request the immediate release of his body for burial. Daqqa,who was due to be released next year, was one of the most prominent and longtime Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, and was described by the Palestinian state news agency as a freedom fighter.
Expression
Restriction on media freedom: Al Jazeera shut down
On 1st April 2024, the government passed the the Law for the Prevention of Foreign Broadcasting Harm to State Security (Temporary Order – Iron Swords), 5774-2024 (so-called Al-Jazeera Law). This law grants the Minister of Communications the authority to block broadcasts of a foreign media entity which endanger state security and to shut down the entities offices in Israel. The law prevents the court from intervening in the decision, even if it believes it should be overturned. Shortly after the law was passed, on 5th May 2024, the Israeli government unanimously authorised the Israeli Communication Minister to order the closure of Al Jazeera broadcasts in both Arabic and English within Israel, banning its website in Israel, closing its offices in the country and confiscating equipment used by its staff. The Israeli government accused the outlet of being a “Hamas mouthpiece.” Al Jazeera journalists have been on the ground covering Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza, with several of its own journalists killed. Media freedom groups condemned the decision as a “violation of media freedom and the right to access independent and diverse media coverage and sources.”
In addition, The Israeli Broadcasting Report (Annual Report to the Knesset Economic Committee), aims to increase government involvement in the broadcasting corporation's content and financial management, which could undermine media freedom.
Attacks on journalists
On 5th June 2024, an unknown man smashed the windows of left-wing daily publication Haaretz’s office in Tel Aviv. Haaretz and its staff have been subject to intimidation and harassment. For example, a Haaretz investigative reporter told the Guardian that unnamed senior security officials threatened actions against him if he reported on attempts by the former head of the Mossad to intimidate the ex-prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Several senior government officials have publicly attacked the publication. On 23rd November 2023, communications minister Shlomo Karhi announced via X that he had submitted a proposal to the government to terminate funding for Haaretz because of its “anti-Israeli propaganda.” Haaretz editor Gideon Levy, has been publicly vilified by several government officials as a “traitor” for running a newspaper “worse than Al Jazeera”.
Palestinian citizens in Israel targeted
Palestinian citizens in Israel have faced repressions both in the workplace and at higher education institutions for speaking out about Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
Several Israeli universities have instituted disciplinary proceedings, suspensions, and expulsions of Palestinian students for their posts on social media related to the ongoing bombardment of Gaza. As of May 2024, Adalah reported that it is monitoring at least 160 cases related to repression against Palestinian students in Israeli universities. The universities claim that students’ social posts violate the disciplinary regulations by either "supporting terrorism" or "sympathising with terror organisations." Adalah found that students have faced disciplinary action for simply posting national symbols of Palestine such as the flag or citing verses from the Quran (the Muslim holy book). In addition, using the terms “ethnic cleansing," "massacre," or "genocide” is de-facto banned. In one case documented by B’Tselem, a young student anonymously recounted receiving a letter from her university during October 2023 informing her of suspension from her studies, without prior warning. In November 2023, following her disciplinary hearing, she was summoned to the police for an interrogation and then arrested. She was subjected to degrading treatment in prison, including regular strip searches, with prison guards insulting her for wearing a hijab and calling her “Hamas”. The student was conditionally released, under 10 days of house arrest, a travel ban until February 2024 and 120 hours of voluntary work. She was also forbidden from posting on social media for two months.
The Minister of Education, Yoav Kish, has publicly supported the actions of the universities, stating that schools must “immediately suspend any student or employee who supports the barbaric terrorist acts currently experienced in the State of Israel,” and that, “In cases where there is indeed incitement, [you must] order a permanent expulsion.” A study by the Arab Centre for the advancement of Social Media (7amleh) found that 70 per cent of Palestinian youth living in Israel tend to self-censor or completely abstain from digital activity. The organisation highlighted that “Israeli policies, which include strict surveillance and prosecution of young Palestinians active online inside Israel, contribute to a state of fear and self-censorship among them. The clash of national identity with citizenship in their daily lives, especially on digital networks, has led to an increased sense of privacy and digital insecurity, prompting many to avoid interacting online.”
According to Adalah, more than 90 Palestinian citizens in Israel have been fired or suspended from their jobs in various sectors, including retail, hospitals, high-tech, private companies and others due to their social media posts or other expressions. On 18th October 2023, Rd. Abd Samara was fired by Hasharon Hospital from his position as the Head of the Department of Cardiac Intensive Care, due to a Facebook post in which, the hospital alleges, he "praises the Hamas invasion of Israel.”