Monday, June 21, 2021

US-Backed Palestinian Human Rights Violations

 

Khaled Abu Toameh  •  June 21, 2021

  • Abbas appears to be emboldened by the Biden administration's decision to resume unconditional financial aid to the Palestinians. This no-strings-attached money is being supplied without even a stipulation that the PA put an end to human rights violations and assaults on public freedoms.
  • Lawyers for Justice said in a separate statement ... that the forms of torture in the PA-controlled Jericho Prison included hanging detainees from the ceilings, beatings and verbal abuse... and electric shocks.
  • "The Future List calls on all electoral lists approved by the Central Elections Committee, all human rights bodies and all honorable people of this country to form a united front to confront the arbitrary political arrests that aim to silence every free voice that rises in the face of tyranny and corruption practiced by the Palestinian Authority." — The Future List, Shfanews.com, May 26, 2021.
  • It seems clear that the diplomats care little if the PA is arresting, torturing and intimidating social media users and political activists.
  • These diplomats and Western journalists do raise their voices -- and loudly -- when they have something damning to say about Israel. The silence of the international community and the Biden administration's blind and unqualified support for the PA only encourage the Palestinian leadership to step up its repressive measures against Palestinians.
  • When Palestinians despair of any improvement in the PA leadership, they move towards Hamas and other terrorist groups that are seen by many Palestinians as a better alternative to Abbas and his Fatah faction.

•   It is hardly surprising, then, that the most recent public opinion poll showed a dramatic surge in the popularity of Hamas among Palestinians. What should be surprising -- and disturbing -- is that the Western world is directly aiding and abetting this bloody shift of allegiance.

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