Palestinian Grassroots Protests & Violent Repression by the Palestinian Authority
Two weeks ago, Palestinian security forces violently arrested Nizar Banat, a political activist and well-known critic of the Palestinian Authority. Banat’s subsequent death – viewed by many Palestinians as a political murder if not a deliberate assassination – sparked outrage across the West Bank. Protests against the PA that began immediately after his death are continuing today, as Palestinians take to the streets to oppose the PA. They are doing so despite facing brutal repression at the hands of PA security forces and PA supporters, with women – especially female human rights workers and journalists – facing particularly tough intimidation and harassment.
Join FMEP and a panel of experts – all of whom are located in the West Bank – to discuss these protests and the PA’s response. We will discuss questions including: who are the people going out to protest against the PA? What are their demands? What risks do they face in protests? What is behind the PA’s violent response? What do these protests tell us about Palestinian grassroots organizing and leadership, especially in relation to the recent Palestinian uprisings in Jerusalem and inside the Green Line? Where might things go from here? And how is the uprising against the PA part of a larger struggle against occupation, annexation, and apartheid?
