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The Palestinian Authority's Human "Slaughterhouse"

(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - The Western countries that recently pledged to recognize a Palestinian state have said their decision is "predicated" on commitments from the Palestinian Authority (PA) to undergo critical governance reforms. However, none of these countries has demanded that the PA halt its human rights violations against its own people. Ending financial and administrative corruption is pointless as long as the PA continues to crack down on its political rivals and impose severe restrictions on freedom of speech. These countries, obsessed with Israel, turn a blind eye to Palestinians' complaints against the PA. According to the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain, the PA's torture of its own people includes beatings with cables, pulling out nails, suspension from the ceiling, flogging, kicking, electric shocks, sexual harassment and the threat of rape. Yet it is hard to remember the last time a respected newspaper or media outlet in the West reported about human rights violations committed by the PA against its citizens. The failure of the international community even to notice such violations allows the PA to continue its crackdown on public freedoms and political activists. The PA's notorious Jericho Prison, dubbed "The Slaughterhouse," is known as a center for extreme abuse. Last week, the Palestinian Committee of Detainees' Families said that "the continued policy of political detention and torture constitutes a crime and a flagrant violation of Palestinian law and international human rights conventions." In June, Palestinian human rights groups reported that Ahmed al-Safouri, a Palestinian from the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp, died as a result of "horrific torture" in a PA detention center. According to the groups, the death of al-Safouri "was not an isolated incident, but rather represents a stark illustration of the suffering of hundreds of political detainees [in PA prisons] who are subjected to grave violations during their arrest and interrogation." The writer, a veteran Israeli journalist, is a senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute and the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.
2025-08-19 00:00:00
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