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Photos: Published by 972Mag

Palestinians in central Ramallah demonstrate against the Palestinian Authority’s sanctions on Gaza, June 13, 2018. (ارفعوا العقوبات)

Palestinian protesters flee from tear gas fired by Palestinian Authority’s police forces during a demonstration against the PA’s sanctions on Gaza, June 13, 2018. (ارفعوا العقوبات)

PA police forces seen during a demonstration in central Ramallah against the PA’s sanctions against Gaza, June 13, 2018. (Adlan Mansri)

PA police forces seen during a demonstration in central Ramallah against the PA’s sanctions against Gaza, June 13, 2018. (Adlan Mansri)Tear gas is fired at Palestinian protesters in central Ramallah, June 13, 2018. (ارفعوا العقوبات)

Israeli riot police arrest a protester in downtown Haifa during a demonstration against the mass killings in Gaza, May 19, 2018. (Nadine Nashef)
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The brutal violence meted out by PA forces, undercover police, and young Fatah supporters against Palestinian demonstrators Wednesday night was unlike anything I had experienced in my life. After it was all over, one thing became clear: just like Israel, the Palestinian Authority is against Gaza.

By Rami Younis for 972Mag
Published June 14, 2018

It was a few minutes after her friend was arrested before her eyes. The frustrated activist, who failed to prevent the violent arrest, stood before the police, defenseless. Instinctively she shouted, “With spirit, with blood, we’ll redeem you Gaza.” Members of the Palestinian security forces, dressed in civilian clothes, knocked her to the ground. Two policemen joined in and began to kick the bleeding, terrified woman.

This was just one of the many scenes of extreme violence used by the Palestinian Authority’s security forces against Palestinian demonstrators who had gathered in Ramallah Wednesday night to demand an end to the PA’s sanctions against Gaza. It was the second demonstration of the week.

Sunday’s demonstration took place without violence, but on Wednesday the PA’s response was severe: the police arrested 69 activists, some of whom were arrested in the hospital while receiving treatment for wounds suffered during the protest. They attacked journalists, women, the elderly, and bystanders, confiscating and breaking cameras and phones. Meanwhile, groups of Fatah youth dressed in civilian clothes who infiltrated the protest.

The trip to Ramallah, on a bus carrying activists from Haifa, went smoothly. But upon our arrival at Manara Square, we found an unprecedented number of Palestinian security forces: hundreds armed and dressed in police uniform, some in special forces uniforms, others in military uniforms and balaclavas covering their faces. Everyone in the square understood that members of secret police — dressed in civilian clothes — were circulating among the demonstrators.

The police had declared the demonstration illegal the previous morning. According to the PA, the reason was “the desire not to disturb the residents of the city in their preparation for the upcoming Iftar celebration.” The protest was supposed to start at 9:30 p.m., but police prevented demonstrators from gathering in the square. Then suddenly, the police began to move with great force toward one of the streets that split off from the square, and immediately began firing stun grenades and tear gas.

I took out my phone to document what was happening. Members of the security forces, their faces covered, ran toward me with their M-16s raised. I froze, but continued to take photos. One of officers grabbed and arrested someone standing close to me. Then, out of nowhere, I felt a sudden, painful blow to my back that knocked me forward.

The policeman, dressed in a blue uniform, who kicked me with such force, called over to his friends, and the the two pounced on me and my phone before I could understand what was happening. The confiscation of my phone was just the start.

The policeman who had kicked me began to confiscate phones, stripping them out of the hands of people standing next me, even if they weren’t taking pictures. All of my requests to get my phone back were answered with curses and yells. I realized I had a problem.

Taysir, a friend from Qalandia refugee camp who was standing beside me, looked even more worried. “It’s not so bad,” I told him. “I’ll get the phone back.”

“I’m not so sure,” he said in a battle-worn tone, despite his young age. “They’re animals, Rami. They break phones and cameras then throw them out.”

Suddenly, we heard a shriek. PA forces with their faces covered were returning from back from the square with several arrestees. Some of them were beaten while being led by security forces. We watched, mouths agape. “I cannot believe they are this violent — these are Palestinian police, not Israeli soldiers,” I said to Taysir. He smiled bitterly and told me to forget it. “It’s only going to get worse. Come with me to the camp, it will be safer there tonight.”

He was right. Palestinian security forces, demanding people clear there streets, continued to move in great numbers towards any gathering that they identified, under cover of stun grenades and tear gas. From each cluster an activist was arrested and led away by the police, who showed no restraint with electric shockers, reminiscent of those used to control cattle.

Then came the undercover officers.

These were not Israeli security forces. Among the protesters who had managed to gather and chant in support of Gaza and against the PA’s sanctions, there were also youth from Jalazun, a refugee camp strongly identified with Fatah. Suddenly, in a coordinated act, they put on baseball caps with a keffiyeh design and began to arrest demonstrators in cooperation with the security forces. That’s when I knew the gates of hell were about to open.

I have been to many protests in my life, including ones where live fire was used. But fear like I felt on Wednesday, thankfully, I had not felt before.

The presence of undercover police meant the beatings and arrests could come from any direction, and that is exactly what happened. There was nowhere to escape to, despite police demands to disperse. Shocked, I stood completely frozen. Time stopped as chaos unfolded around me: a woman was beaten badly before my eyes, and no one among the hundreds of people in the area dared to help her. Others were arrested and led like animals by the Fatah youth. The police went into gear and arrested tens of people, some of whom they threw to the ground. Some of us nearly suffocated from the tear gas.

I somehow managed to cross over the the adjacent street. At that moment, a group of young women, most of them journalists, passed by. One of them dared to chant in support of Gaza — not against Abbas, Fatah, but for Gaza. A stun grenade was thrown at their feet within seconds. A few moments later I meet a friend from Ramallah with tears in her eyes. “What happened?” I ask, “did they beat you?”

“I wish. One of the officers told me ‘what are you doing in the street, you whore? Get out of here immediately.’”

At this point I decided I had enough. I had to go to the police station to see what happened to the detainees. The fact that my phone was taken away didn’t help.

Munhad Abu Ghosh, who lives in Haifa and was arrested during the demonstration, is a well-known anti-Abbas activist. Upon his release (at the time of publishing, only five of those arrested are still being held), he described the threats he had previously received by Abbas supporters. “They said they would send a junkie to take care of me in Haifa. It would only cost them $100-200.” That threat, says Abu Ghosh, came directly from Abbas office. “At a certain point they told me that if I go to Ramallah, the Tanzim (a militant faction of the Fatah movement – r.y.) will shoot me in the legs, and the investigation will be conducted for the sake of appearances.” That last threat, he says, came only two months ago.

Abu Ghosh is part of a growing group of Palestinian citizens of Israel who harshly criticize Abbas and the PA, and even take part in protests in the West Bank. Abu Ghosh know to recognize the difference between the PA leadership and its activists, or young Fatah activists.

“You need to understand,” he continues. “They aren’t only using mafia tactics. They are take advantage of those same young people from the refugee camps (young Fatah activists from Jalazun refugee camp — r.y.) who reach the big city. For them beating up people here is an act of conquering a city to which they never felt a sense of belonging. Fatah is cynically exploiting the poverty and exclusion of Palestinian refugees. Those same kids, and many of them are under 20, have no idea what they did yesterday and how they were exploited.”

At the police station, I go between pleading with the policemen to return my phone, and the families of the detainees who are standing outside the station, begging to receive information from the police. The police refuse to supply the answers. At 2 a.m. I am annoyed and dealing with a backache, while engaging in a political argument with dozens of police officers. The brainwashing they had undergone was clear. When I accused them of using violence against activists, I was met with responses such as “the protesters received money,” or “this was a Hamas protest.” Abbas’ forces easily adopt Israeli propaganda. According to the story they tell themselves, the fact that many of those arrested were left-wing students from Bir Zeit University is not really important.

Despairing and in pain, I continue to the next police station. The hour is 3 a.m. That’s where I find my phone, but there is a problem. The police dispatcher refuses to let me enter the station because I am wearing shorts. At this point I begin to lose it completely and raise my voice. “You came from Haifa with your shorts to protest here and intervene in our politics?” the policeman says to me. Then I remember the declarations by Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, who accused “Arabs from outside the city” who are “disturbing the co-existence in the city.”

That’s when I finally understood it. As opposed to what I previously thought, the Palestinian Authority is not the subcontractor of the occupation. The Palestinian Authority is a full partner in implementing every Israeli tactic in oppressing the Palestinian people.

Suddenly, the beatings against the women who chanted in support of Gaza seemed logical. On Wednesday night, the PA announced openly and practically: just like Israel, we are against Gaza.

This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it