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Why Are We Ignoring the Appalling Human Rights Crisis in the Palestinian Authority?
(National Post-Canada) Vivian Bercovici - On Oct. 23, Human Rights Watch issued a blistering 145-page indictment of extreme institutionalized abuse and repression in PA- and Hamas-controlled territory. Tom Porteous, deputy program director at HRW, lamented the fact that where Palestinian authorities do have autonomy, "they have developed parallel police states." In the West Bank, the PA controls the press, as does Hamas in Gaza. The slightest, most innocuous criticism of the ruling party may well land an individual in jail, for years. Or worse. PA President Mahmoud Abbas may scrub up well in a suit and tie but the media he controls disseminates an unceasing torrent of Jew-hating bile. Palestinian society is bereft of the most basic institutions that promote civil society and nationhood: a democratically elected government; an independent judiciary; and a free press. This is not due to Israeli occupation or a lack of international support, including financial. The writer is Canada's former ambassador to Israel.