PA police given more jurisdiction in occupied West Bank

May 1, 2015 | Al Jazeera English

An increase in unemployment due to life under occupation has given rise to crime in some Jerusalem suburbs.

For the first time since the second intifada, uniformed and armed police could patrol the streets of Abu Dis.

ABU DIS, OCCUPIED WEST BANK - For the first time in more than a decade, the Palestinian Authority has been allowed to deploy police forces in Palestinian villages in areas controlled by Israel.

Years under occupation and a lack of proper law enforcement have transformed these once-thriving suburbs of Jerusalem into hubs for car thieves and drug and weapons dealers. Many residents are happy to see the police officers, even if their presence, so far, has been mainly symbolic.

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Attacks on Palestinian journalists doubled in 2011

Jan. 2, 2012 | International Media Support (IMS)

Violations of press freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories skyrocketed during the months of the Arab spring uprisings and during its UN bid for statehood

Incidents of arrests, summoning, confiscation of equipment and not least beatings of Palestinian journalists close to doubled in 2011 according to the Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedoms, MADA. MADA registers violations of press freedoms and registered 170 cases in the months from January to October this year. For comparison, 99 cases were registered in all of 2010. But contrary to earlier years, the majority of the violations this year were carried out by Palestinian authorities.

“There are attacks from both the Israeli and Palestinian side”, says General Secretary of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), Salah Badawi Masharqa, but expresses particular disappointment with the restrictions of press freedom imposed by Palestinian security forces.

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