2020-12-14

West Bank and Gaza

West Bank / Gaza / Core Program / position paper

The Arrest Of Suhaib Zahida Is A Continuation Of The Gag On Free Speech

The trending news of the arrest of community activist Suhaib Zaheda contradicts the Prime Minister’s assertion of his adherence to the Palestinian approach of pluralism and democracy in his speech at the beginning of the government meeting held today. Pluralism and democracy reject, prohibit and ban arrest, detention and arrest against the background of citizens' exercise of their constitutional right to participate in shaping the features of their society's present and their state and its future. Democracy and pluralism contradict exclusivity and reject the silencing and suppression of opinion, because their essence supports and legitimizes the difference in opinion and position. This is what was enshrined in Article (9) of the Basic Law, and before it the Declaration of Independence and the values ​​and principles of the civil democratic state. Respecting pluralism and democracy are inconsistent with the policies of resolving differences of opinion by security solution or by undermining the right of the opposition to speak and express its opinion, and to debate the correct opinion of duty-holders and civil servants. Rather, intellectual, political and democratic pluralism guarantees and protects the right, even the duty, to criticize official performance and disagree with it which includes policies and approaches to suppressing other opinion, arrest, custody and trial against the background of its expression under the umbrella of denial of democracy, abandonment of the culture and approach of pluralism, a violation of the provisions of the Basic Law and a violation of the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens to which the Declaration of Independence devoted most of its provisions to which, and the Basic Law that devoted chapters 1 and 2 of it and made them binding with the obligation to respect, while violating it is a crime in which the civil and criminal lawsuit arising from is not falling due to statute of limitations. It also obligates the state to compensate the harmed for violating any of their constitutional rights, foremost of which is the right to intellectual pluralism and the exercise of democracy.

The arrest of activist Suhaib Zahida denotes the transformation of the prejudice to pluralism and the reluctance to democracy into an outward appearance or a dangerous approach which the time has come to stop it forever, because it is an expression of the arrest and suppression of opinion. Unfortunately, that is recipe for tearing the societal fabric, civil peace and security chaos at a time when our national identity is threatened to the most severe damage while the brutality of the occupation and the Corona pandemic increase too. The insistence on adopting the administrative detention approach under the name of detention in the custody of the governor or arrest and trial against the background of expressing an opinion or criticizing aspects of official performance is a sterile path that will not lead to a result and will not achieve stability and does not contribute to facing crises, as well as being a blatant expression of regression on the Pluralism, democracy and freedom that our people have paid and are still paying a heavy price in order to continue their adherence to them. The approach of suppressing the other opinion through arrest, detention, trial, and confiscation of the right to political participation as explicitly required by Article (26) of the Basic Law, in addition to being a crime and a threat to pluralism and democracy, is an approach that falls short and fails to protect any people and any system.

Freedom for Suhaib Zaheda and all prisoners of conscience, be them released them immediately, to close the file of political detention forever, and to abandon the approach of exclusivity and silencing of voices.

Issued on December 14, 2020