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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17482/palestinians-human-rights
Abbas Appears Emboldened by Resumption of U.S. Aid, Cracks Down on Rivals
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Since U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit in May to Ramallah, PA security forces have arrested or summoned dozens of Palestinians for interrogation. Many of them were accused of "insulting" Palestinian leaders on social media or expressing support for the PA's rivals in Hamas and other Palestinian factions. The Palestinian human rights group Lawyers for Justice said on June 5: "The campaign of political arrests and summonses...affected many citizens of different backgrounds, including arrests based on political affiliation and arrests for exercising freedom of opinion and expression." Some of the detainees said they were beaten and tortured in the PA's Security Committee detention center in Jericho. Western diplomats and journalists raise their voices loudly when they have something damning to say about Israel. The silence of the international community and its unqualified support for the PA encourages the Palestinian leadership to step up its repressive measures against Palestinians. When Palestinians despair of any improvement in the PA leadership, they move towards Hamas and other terrorist groups.