Palestinians prosecuted for Facebook ‘incitement’ posts

BETHLEHEM: Israeli authorities are prosecuting two Palestinians for alleged “Facebook incitement” amid a crackdown by Israel on Palestinian freedom of expression and social media activity.

Israeli authorities issued a list of charges against Jerusalemite journalist Muhammad Batroukh, which included alleged incitement on Facebook.

His detention was extended until yesterday, the Jerusalem-based organisation Wadi Hilweh Information Centre said, quoting lawyer Muhammad Mahmoud.

Batroukh was detained on March 7, according to local Palestinian news site Safa.

Meanwhile, an Israeli judge sentenced Walid Rajabi to 10 months of actual imprisonment and a suspended probation sentence of seven months for three years over charges of incitement on Facebook.

Scores of Palestinians have been detained in recent months for expressing their opinions on the Israeli occupation, particularly through social media, in a crackdown that rights groups have said is aimed at stifling Palestinian freedom of speech. Israeli authorities have claimed that a wave of violence that first erupted in October 2015 was caused largely by “incitement” among Palestinians through social media.

Palestinians have instead pointed chiefly to the frustration and despair brought on by Israel’s nearly 50-year military occupation of the Palestinian territory and the absence of a political horizon as reasons for the outbreak of violence. Many Palestinians also point out that Israeli violence has continued to shape everyday life in the occupied territories.