Palestinian Shin Bet collaborator sues Al Jazeera

A man from Nablus who collaborated with the IDF and the Shin Bet General Security Service is suing Al Jazeera for NIS 10 million, claiming the broadcaster exposed his identity, according to a report in Maariv.

Exposing the identity of a collaborator – in this case, identified by the pseudonym “Ahmed” – is both illegal and a danger to the exposed individual’s well-being, the report said.

“The prosecutor cannot visit his [Ahmed’s] family today, because his parents and cousins are very angry with him, and they are more likely to murder him if they meet,” a lawsuit filed this week with the Jerusalem District Court stated.

Ahmed collaborated with the IDF and Shin Bet in 2004. In 2014, he participated in an interview with Al Jazeera, asking that his picture be blurred and his identity hidden. While Al Jazeera did blur his picture, it published his full name.

Ahmed is not only arguing negligence, but said he believes he might have been set up. He recalled in the interview that a “reporter was waiting for me, and she asked me to talk.”

“Today I live in the street because of this article. I die every day a million times,” Ahmed said. “When my brother and nephew died, I could not accompany them on their last journey [to their funerals], and I am now undergoing psychiatric treatment, and no one speaks to me.”