As Israel’s genocide against the Palestinan people in Gaza unfolds, with over 21,000 Palestinians confirmed to have been killed, over 57,500 injured, and above 60 percent of the housing units in Gaza either completely destroyed or otherwise damaged, Palestinian citizens of Israel – those who remained in their homeland after the Nakba and the establishment of the State of Israel – are facing a relentless campaign of incitement, political persecution, and a severe crackdown on their freedom of speech.
The escalating persecution of Palestinian citizens who dare to exercise their fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly, facing reprisals and harassment, is not merely an attempt to stifle opposition; it is also a direct assault on the core of Palestinian identity and national belonging. Expressions of outrage, pain, and protest by Palestinian citizens in response to Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza represent aspects of their collective Palestinian identity. Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian citizens is closely tied to its consistent policies aimed at fragmenting and severing connections between Palestinians who hold Israeli citizenship and those in Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the diaspora, measures rooted in a colonial divide-and-rule strategy. By trying to redefine the Palestinians as an “Arab minority” within the Jewish state, this strategy diminishes their national belonging and transforms their struggle into an “internal Israeli question”, which also often dissuades the international community from intervening in Israel’s campaign of persecution against them.
Criminalization of Palestinian Political Speech
Israeli authorities have unleashed an unprecedented campaign of arrests and criminal proceedings against Palestinian citizens of Israel for alleged expression-related offenses. As of November 13th, Adalah has documented over 270 arrests and interrogations based primarily on such allegations.
Arrests and subsequent indictments are largely based on charges of “identifying with a terrorist organization” and “inciting terrorism”, both under Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Law. Such charges are almost exclusively enforced against Palestinians, both historically and presently. Notably, the state’s own admission reveals that between October 7 and 30, a staggering 95% of all 103 criminal investigations initiated under these charges were against Palestinians – citizens of Israel and residents of East Jerusalem.
The data reflects both the widespread, baseless campaign of arrests and criminal proceedings against Palestinian citizens and the absence of any law enforcement response towards Jewish-Israelis for their rampant incitement against Palestinians on various online platforms — including explicit calls for violence and murder — which goes unpunished. Notably, one such platform, the far-right Israeli Telegram channel “Nazi Hunters,” openly identifies dozens of Palestinians, provides their personal information, and calls for their murder. Thus, there’s a clear and evident pattern of selective enforcement against Palestinians. This is part of a historical pattern of discriminatory law enforcement practices, which favor Israeli-Jewish citizens, while disproportionately targeting Palestinians.
Many of the expressions leading to criminal persecution fall below the criminal threshold and within the realm of freedom of expression under international law. These expressions include sympathy for the Palestinian people in Gaza or depictions of their suffering but also manifestations of anger and outrage at Israel’s military offensive. Note that International law, however, provides protection for the vast majority of such expressions, even those considered “deeply offensive”, according to the UN Human Rights Committee. While the right to freedom of expression is not absolute and can be restricted, any derogation must adhere to “strict tests of necessity and proportionality”, and laws enabling such restrictions must not violate the principle of non-discrimination.
This aggressive policing campaign, led by the openly racist National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who holds direct authority over the police and Israel’s prison services (IPS), has been marked by harsh and illegal treatment during arrests — from blindfolding and forceful arrests to midnight raids and strip searches. Israel’s police and other government officials are implementing measures devoid of any rationale other than to instill fear and humiliation; the police are capturing detainees with the Israeli flag as a backdrop and sharing these images on media platforms. Inside detention facilities, reports of severe verbal and physical abuse persist.
This systematic and brutal approach appears not only punitive towards Palestinians daring to express dissent but also strategic, aiming to deter others and coerce them into maintaining self-censorship amidst a climate of fear and intimidation.
Policing thought
Under the pretext of war and national emergency, the Israeli legislature has introduced a new law that would facilitate the persecution of Palestinian citizens of Israel and residents of East Jerusalem, extending beyond their online speech to also include “passive” online activity. On November 8th, the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) passed an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism Law, introducing a new criminal offense — consumption of terrorist publications — for merely viewing posts and videos on social media by designated “terrorist organizations,” carrying a maximum penalty of one year in prison. Currently, the law designates Hamas and ISIS to which this offense applies, however, its scope can be expanded. This is pure thought policing, penalizing individuals not only for their active online expressions but also for their passive engagement with content, reflecting repressive tactics used by authoritarian regimes. Such legislation blatantly violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, under the freedom of expression, safeguards the right to “receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”.
Muted Streets for Palestinians
The crackdown on online platforms has been accompanied by the criminalization of public protests on the streets. As massive pro-Palestinian and anti-war demonstrations reverberate throughout numerous major cities worldwide, Palestinian citizens of Israel are being entirely muzzled.
In the early days of the war, the Israeli police took to their Arabic-language TikTok account to disseminate a speech by their chief, categorically prohibiting all protests “on matters of foreign and security policy”, clearly targeting any Palestinian political protests or protests in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. Echoing a term adopted widely by both governmental and private entities since October 7th — the “zero tolerance” policy— the chief brazenly declared, “Anyone who wants to identify with Gaza Ahlan Wa Sahlan [is welcome]; I will put them on buses now that are headed there, and I will help them get there [to Gaza].”
This not only issues a clear and unambiguous order to all police commanders and officers to suppress protests and treat protesters as criminals but also suggests that, in response to dissent, transfer into Gaza is the correct course of action — a suggestion that, at this point, can be viewed as nothing short of a death sentence. Shortly after this proclamation, the police violently dispersed protests in two Palestinian towns — one in Haifa and another in Umm Al-Fahem; In Haifa, just hours before a planned protest against Israel’s actions in Gaza on October 17th, the police issued a preemptive statement to the media, asserting that the demonstration lacked a permit, and that the police will take a firm hand to disperse it. Prior to the scheduled protest, dozens of officers arrived at the scene, declaring the gathering unlawful and employing force to arrest five demonstrators who refused to leave. The following day, the police brutally assaulted Palestinian protesters during an anti-war demonstration in Umm Al-Fahem, deploying rubber bullets and stun grenades and arresting 12 protesters.
In the face of a Supreme Court challenge, the police claimed that the chief’s video statements were in reference to protests deemed to be inciting violence and asserted that, regardless, such statements did not amount to a specific directive. This response followed a petition filed by Adalah, which challenged the police’s denial of permits for anti-war protests in the Palestinian towns of Umm Al-Fahem and Sakhnin. In its decision, the Court then held that the police chief does not have authority to impose such a sweeping ban, yet it fully accepted the police’s claim that, due to the ongoing war, there was a shortage of manpower to ensure that the protests would not disrupt the public order.
This ruling essentially granted the police the unfettered discretion it needed to maintain a sweeping, de facto ban. Despite the Supreme Court issuing a decision that purported to protect fundamental rights, the reality is that it has empowered Israeli law enforcement to suppress Palestinians. Earlier this year, a similar approach was taken regarding the police’s de facto ban on publicly displaying the Palestinian flag. The court’s failure to safeguard the fundamental rights of Palestinian citizens is evident in this decision and others since October 7th; Instead of upholding these rights, the court appears to align itself with a historical animosity against Palestinians, employing technicalities to enable the ongoing crackdown against Palestinian citizens.
Swiftly following this decision, the police detained several Palestinian political leaders in Israel, in connection to a planned anti-war protest in the Palestinian city of Nazareth. The police asserted that these leaders had defied the police’s instructions and sought to organize an unlawful protest, despite the fact that such protests do not require a permit under Israeli law.
Meanwhile, weekly demonstrations in Tel Aviv led by Jewish-Israelis persist, demanding the return of hostages and even calling for the government to step down. The police selectively impose a near-blanket ban on protests that convey expressions of support for Palestinians in Gaza, stifling the legitimate solidarity and support of Palestinian citizens for their fellow Palestinians in Gaza. The police chief’s explicit statements underscore an overtly racist policy implemented by the Israeli police, indicating that any expression identifying with Gaza will face ruthless suppression.
Persecution for Online Expressions in Israeli Academia
While Israeli authorities employ oppressive measures to silence Palestinians, employers and Israeli academic institutions have taken it upon themselves to penalize Palestinian citizens for their online expressions.
Palestinian students in Israeli academic institutions are facing a targeted campaign of incitement and persecution, coordinated by governmental bodies, academic institutions, and right-wing Jewish-Israeli student groups. More than 110 cases have been documented by Adalah in which Israeli universities and colleges have initiated disciplinary proceedings – including suspensions and expulsions – against Palestinian students, solely based on content posted on their personal social media accounts. Many students have faced such severe consequences without being afforded a prior hearing or fundamental due process protections, as required by Israeli law.
The content triggering these harsh, punitive measures includes posts sharing verses from the Quran and religious texts, expressing solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, and opposing the ongoing war. Some posts sought to contextualize Hamas’s October 7 attack by emphasizing the enduring 56-year occupation of Gaza and the 17-year blockade, countering the prevailing media narrative that deemed the attack “unprovoked”.
Additionally, there were posts sharing press releases, statistics, and images from media outlets. Even personal celebrations of achievements or family events, posted on October 7, were construed by academic institutions as endorsing or celebrating Hamas’s-led attack on Israelis. In a specific case in which Adalah represented the individual, a Palestinian student at an Israeli college was expelled for sharing a post celebrating her sister’s engagement. The decision for expulsion was based on the fact that the post – featuring gold champagne bottles, balloons, and a save-the-date for the engagement – was published on the student’s Instagram story on October 7th, with the disciplinary committee noting it views “any action supporting acts of terrorism with severity”. During disciplinary committee hearings, certain students were questioned for sharing images of civilians or children in Gaza and not those of Israeli children, with committee members displaying an attitude of disbelief as to why Palestinian citizens of Israel would identify with Palestinians in Gaza.
Not only are academic institutions initiating disciplinary proceedings with far-reaching implications, but, in some cases, students are also facing criminal proceedings, with some evidence suggesting that schools reported some cases to the police, as recommended by Education Minister Yoav Kisch. As of now, at least 20 university or college students have been arrested.
New legal tracks for Revocation of Citizenship or Residency
The surge in arrests based on expression-related offenses, which carry severe penalties of up to 5 years of imprisonment, may also pose an additional threat for those convicted in the future— the revocation of their citizenship or East Jerusalem residency. The Interior Minister is currently pushing forward legislation designed to grant him the authority to revoke Israeli citizenship and residency based on convictions for such offenses. This proposed track, if approved, would join two existing methods by which the Israeli government has given itself authority to revoke citizenship and residency. The Interior Minister has already announced his intention to initiate procedures to revoke citizenship or residency based on these pre-existing legal tracks – for “supporters and operatives of the ISIS Branch in Gaza”, referring to Hamas.
Several government officials have also called on the Interior Minister to revoke the citizenship of several Palestinians. The Minister of Culture and Sports has formally urged the Interior Minister to take steps to revoke the residency of Ataa Jaber, a professional football player who plays for the Palestine national team. Jaber’s alleged offense? Observing a minute of silence during a game in solidarity with the victims in Gaza. Despite not meeting the current legal threshold and almost certainly falling short in the proposed new procedure as well, these statements convey a clear message to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship or residency: speaking out against Israel or expressing their Palestinian identity and support for fellow Palestinians in Gaza not only poses the risk of imprisonment but also the potential loss of their legal status and the threat of expulsion from their ancestral homeland. This cultivates an environment of persecution and incitement, sowing deep-seated fear and fostering self-censorship.
Conclusion
The persistent and aggressive measures taken by Israel to silence Palestinian voices, once again treating them as “internal enemies”, stand as a stark continuation of a long history of political persecution and delegitimization dating back to the Nakba and establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. This unyielding campaign, manifested through arrests for expression-related offenses, the targeting of students, workers, artists, influencers, and doctors, coupled with the introduction of new oppressive laws, is creating a pervasive atmosphere of fear and self-censorship. Labeled with “zero tolerance,” these policies target expressions of identification and sympathy with the Palestinians in Gaza, along with other manifestations of political and religious association, collective Palestinian suffering, and the assertion of Palestinian identity. Criminalizing and penalizing Palestinian citizens’ expression of solidarity and support for their fellow Palestinians in Gaza, systematically divided by the deliberate colonial tactic of divide-and-rule, is a means of suppressing unity, even intruding into the realm of thoughts and expressions. This serves as a tool for Israel to perpetuate a system that maintains control and domination over the Palestinian people.
This blog post is primarily informed by details outlined in a briefing paper issued by Adalah, a Haifa-based Palestinian human rights organization and legal center.
