Palestinians describe harassment from Israeli forces over social media posts during war

Amna Nawaz:

Inside Israel's war against Hamas and Gaza, there's a different type of war on information.

Since October 7, Hamas has pumped out its own propaganda on social media, prompting Israel to start its own media campaign to drum up support. But those efforts have also resulted in a social media crackdown, with deep consequences for Palestinians living inside Israel and the occupied territories, which some claim goes beyond credible threats.

So far, more than 2,000 Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel have been arrested since the war began, and hundreds of them for social media posts.

Leila Molana-Allen has some of their stories.

Leila Molana-Allen:

It wasn't the first time 17-year-old Omran Okkeh had been chased by Jerusalem police. But a couple of weeks after he escaped a raid on a public square in early October, they followed him home.

After forced their way into his house, Omran says police beat him in his bedroom and then in the police car after arresting him.

Omran Okkeh, East Jerusalem Resident (through interpreter):

The policeman told me to clean my blood from the car. "I want to help you clean the wound," he said. But then he sprayed pepper gas on the handkerchief and wiped my face with it.

Leila Molana-Allen:

When Omran's mother, Rola, tried to intervene, she was arrested too.

Rola Okkeh, Mother of Omran (through interpreter): I asked them, why were they hitting my son? And they assaulted me and pushed me over. They injured my hand and handcuffed it and tied my legs too. And then they took me to the car. And when we got to the police station, the policeman gave me water out of the toilet and told me to drink it.

What is this hatred?

Leila Molana-Allen:

Omran's crime is still unclear. He says police accused him of being in WhatsApp groups criticizing Israel's war in Gaza and supporting Hamas.

Omran Okkeh (through interpreter):

My phone has news groups, and most of the people participate in them, and the policeman told me, because of this, that I am communicating with Hamas.

I told them, "I didn't do anything. Why are you attacking me?"

They said, "Its enough that you are an Arab."

Leila Molana-Allen:

A police spokesperson told the "NewsHour" Omran had aroused suspicion, with no detail as to why, and said officers used force because Rola assaulted them as they detained her son.

After a period under house arrest, Omran's deep bruises have healed. He has not been charged with anything. But Rola is just waiting for the next time.

Rola Okkeh (through interpreter):

I'm very afraid for my children. When they're out at night I can't sleep waiting for them to come back. There is no security for us. There's no rest.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Omran isn't the only Palestinian to claim unfounded arrest and abuse at the hands of Israeli authorities since October 7.

In the weeks since the war began, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians have been interrogated, harassed, and arrested by Israeli security forces in their hundreds for social media posts and messages in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

The crackdown raises questions over not only whether it's a proportionate response, but the future of free speech in this country; 21-year-old engineering student Bayan Khatib, an Arab citizen of Israel, didn't know a social media post could ruin her life.

On the morning of October 8, she posted a short reel of her breakfast shakshouka, a tomato and egg dish, with the caption, "Soon, we will eat victory Shakshouka," and a Palestinian flag. Hours later, her life began to unravel. Her fellow Israeli students refused to sit in class with her. Then she was summoned by the university and dismissed.

Bayan Khatib, Engineering Student (through interpreter):

When the war happened, everything changed. They are now pursuing all Arab students and photographing their posts on social media for anything they consider incitement. "We do not want to learn with you, and we will not accept that you return to the university and that we will kill you," and many threats.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Next, she lost both her jobs. Then, the police came. Bayan was held for three days.

Bayan Khatib:

They sent me to three prisons. They are so full that there is no empty space. The cell can accommodate four people. There were nine people in it, and we slept on the floor.

I had my hijab, but the other girls, they seized them from their bedrooms and did not allow them to put veils on their heads. Then they put garbage bags on their heads. Can you imagine?

Leila Molana-Allen:

Bayan says her experience shows Israel's claim that Arab citizens of Israel are equal is a lie.

Bayan Khatib:

We cannot speak or move. We cannot say stop the war. We cannot express opinions. And we cannot live freely.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Muhammad Dahleh is an East Jerusalem lawyer working on dozens of cases like these.

While existing Israeli laws allowed arrest for incitement to violence or materially aiding terrorist organizations, Dahleh says the new measures since October 7 go much further.

Muhammad Dahleh, Attorney:

Anybody who is posting anything that can be construed or can be looked at as inciting to terror or as understanding that incentives for this attack or somehow trying to put it into context is seen by the Israeli police as a criminal offense.

Leila Molana-Allen:

The Israeli authorities' new crackdown on civil liberties has been so widespread that even Dahleh is afraid to say too much. He fears imprisoning people for their words, rather than their actions, is a slippery slope that Israel, once championed by some as a bastion of free speech in the Middle East, may not be able to climb back from.

And Israeli authorities are trying to quash the dissemination of dissent, as well as the source. A recent Human Rights Watch investigation found Israel's cyber unit sent 9,500 content removal requests to Meta, which runs Facebook and Instagram and other social platforms, since October 7.

Muhammad Dahleh:

I think it is going to be counterproductive. I mean, when you suffocate a people, and when you don't let them even speak, when you don't let them have this freedom of speech and being able to express their views, eventually, those people will rebel somehow in a different way.

They — OK, they might not post, but then you are pushing those people into a corner, actually a risky corner.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Ahed Tamimi has been one of those rebelling since childhood.

At just 11 years old, she became well-known for confronting an Israeli soldier trying to arrest her brother in their West Bank village of Nabi Salih. The decade since then has been spent in and out of prison. In late October, her words landed her in trouble again after a social media post calling for the death of Israelis, which she claims she didn't write.

Soldiers stormed the family home in the middle of the night.

Nariman TamimI, Mother of Ahed Tamimi (through interpreter): Everything inside the closet, they threw on the ground. Even the makeup box, they opened. I don't know what they were searching for. They threw the makeup everywhere. Even Ahed's bed, they searched. They ruined everything.

Does this makeup pose a danger to them? Our occupiers are afraid of a young woman's makeup?

Leila Molana-Allen:

Far right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted about his joy at her arrest and called for a wider crackdown on dissent.

Nariman says they are scapegoats for Israel's anger.

Nariman TamimI (through interpreter):

The soldiers were bad. They hit Ahed against the wall and on the sofa. They were acting crazy because of what happened on October 7. And Israel's failure to protect its borders made them very angry, and they behaved brutally and unconsciously.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Nariman has spent decades watching her outspoken children go in and out of jail. She expected the soldiers from the moment the war began.

Nariman TamimI (through interpreter):

This is painful. International law and human rights are not applied to the Palestinians.

Israel does not need a charge against the Palestinians to arrest them, and an influential Palestinian who says what is in his heart will be targeted by Israel. They fear that we will influence international public opinion, so they arrest us.

Leila Molana-Allen:

Ahed was later released as part of the hostage-prisoner swap. She claims she was beaten and humiliated while detained.

Bayan still has no idea when or if her case will be tried. Her documents have been confiscated and she's been hit with a travel ban. With no way to complete her education or earn money, the future is bleak.

Bayan Khatib (through interpreter):

We are losing our basic rights of expression, expression of opinion, education, and work.

Leila Molana-Allen:

As voices against the war in Gaza grow louder in the West, Palestinians increasingly feel gagged, fearing swift retribution if they speak freely.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Nabi Salih, the West Bank.