Many Arab citizens of Israel have been taken into custody because of what they said on social media about the war in Gaza.
One of them is a famous singer and influencer named Dalal Abu Amneh from Nazareth. She was kept in police custody for two days before being let go on Wednesday after paying bail. She is currently not allowed to leave her house until Monday.
As per Abeer Baker, her lawyer, she was accused by the police officers of behaving badly. They claimed that her posts could make her followers become violent.
The picture that caught the police’s attention was a photo of the Palestinian flag with a saying in Arabic that means “Only God wins. ”
Ms Baker says the singer, who is famous in the Arab world for singing about Palestinian culture, was expressing her religious beliefs. Israeli authorities believed that the singer’s post was encouraging Palestinians to take up weapons.
Since the war began between Israel and Hamas, the police in Israel have taken a strict approach towards social media posts that show support for Hamas. Hamas is a group that wants to destroy Israel and is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US, UK, and other countries.
Ms Abu Amneh, who is an Arab citizen of Israel, was arrested along with many other people for posting about the war on social media.
A lot of people have been stopped from working or fired from their jobs, or face punishment from their universities.
Israeli Arabs, also known as Palestinian citizens of Israel, make up about 20% of the population in Israel.
The police have looked into and arrested over 100 individuals for their online activities since Hamas attacked. Sixty-three people have been arrested and questioned in Jerusalem only.
Israel’s Police Commissioner, Yaakov Shabtai, said that if anyone encourages others to oppose or harm Israel, its government, its elected officials, its military, or its police, the Israel Police will respond strongly and without being lenient.
Adalah, an organization that advocates for the rights of Arab minorities in Israel, thinks that more people are being held in custody because there have been more recent arrests.
During the Israel-Gaza conflict in May 2021, a report from Adalah stated that only 16 individuals were charged with inciting violence. Out of these 16 people, 15 were Arab.
Human rights advocates are concerned that the recent increase in arrests is because the police are now considering more behaviors as potentially encouraging violence.
In Rahat, a city in the desert, the police have arrested a person named Dr. Amer al-Huzail He was running for mayor in the past. He posted on social media a map of the Gaza Strip, along with his thoughts on what might happen if Israeli forces were to start a mission on the ground there.
Because of this, people have accused him of helping the enemy during a time of war.
However, some people in Israel are still experiencing severe outcomes for their social media posts, even if they are not charged with any crimes.
According to lawyers from Adalah, they have received more than 40 cases where Israeli Arab workers were suspended or fired from their jobs unexpectedly.
Salam Irsheid, a lawyer at the organization, said that sometimes people’s jobs and way of making a living are in danger just because they give a like to a social media post. We have a worker who might lose their job for liking a news report about the Gaza situation on social media.
Arab students in Israel’s universities are also being disciplined by their schools.
Last week, the president of Tel Aviv University, Ariel Porat, mentioned that a small number of students were identified for showing “approval of the terrible actions by Hamas”.
“We will be very tough on these few students,” he wrote on the university’s website, “and if we believe their actions are against the law, we will inform the police. ” We will respond quickly, as needed in this sensitive situation, but we will make sure that every student gets a fair investigation.
Lawyers from Adalah have heard from 83 students who were suspended from schools in different parts of the country. In certain situations, these students were also asked to leave their housing suddenly.
None of the situations are about doing things, showing things, or taking part in things that are against the law. Hassan Jabareen, the general director of Adalah, says that they are mostly focused on the things people post on social media.
He says that most of the posts are against the war and Israel’s actions in Gaza. They also support the victims of the war in Gaza.
10% of the posts can be seen as indirectly supporting the actions of Hamas against innocent people.
“In usual circumstances, those posts wouldn’t be understood in that way, but nowadays Israel has a tendency to interpret them in the most severe manner. ”
The public is very angry about the attack by Hamas, which killed over 1,400 people, mostly innocent people, in areas close to the Gaza Strip. They are also upset with Jewish Israelis who are asking for things to calm down.
On the previous Sunday, Israel Frey, a well-known journalist from the left-wing ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, had to be taken away from his home in Tel Aviv by the police to keep him safe.
A group of people gathered outside the building and fired flares at his apartment because he posted a video on social media where he was praying for the people in Gaza.
And on Wednesday, Ofer Cassif, who is a Jewish lawmaker for the Arab-led Hadash-Taal alliance, was temporarily removed from the Israeli parliament for 45 days because he strongly criticized the bombing of Gaza.
He recently posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) and criticized the police for not acting quickly to protect Mr. Frey
“Police with weapons are sent to arrest anyone who displays even a small amount of understanding or compassion for the killings in Gaza,” he wrote.
However, the police do not want to keep a left-wing journalist safe when their life is at risk.