Continued harassment against members of the organisation ‘Al-Haq’, including death threats against its general director Shawan Jabarin
On 15 July 2019, ‘4il’, a state owned media, published an article and a Facebook post describing the general director of the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, and other members as ‘terrorists in suits’. These publications incited hateful comments including calls to kill Shawan Jabarin.
Shawan Jabarin is a Palestinian human rights defender, general director of the organisation Al-Haq, and secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). He is also a member of the Middle East Advisory Board of Human Rights Watch. He was Amnesty International’s first Palestinian Prisoner of Conscience, and he has worked for years promoting human rights in the face of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. In 2018, he received the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
On 15 July 2019, ‘4il’, a state owned media, published an article and a Facebook post describing the general director of the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, and other members as ‘terrorists in suits’. These publications incited hateful comments including calls to kill Shawan Jabarin.
Shawan Jabarin is a Palestinian human rights defender, general director of the organisation Al-Haq, and secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). He is also a member of the Middle East Advisory Board of Human Rights Watch. He was Amnesty International’s first Palestinian Prisoner of Conscience, and he has worked for years promoting human rights in the face of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. In 2018, he received the Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
On 15 July 2019, ‘4il’ published an article and a Facebook post in which it described Al-Haq members as ‘terrorists in suits’. These publications were followed by hateful comments by readers, including death threats against Shawan Jabarin, such as “Why is he still breathing?”, “When do we put a bullet in his head?”, and “Why has he not been liquidated?”. These death threats were made by Facebook users on the ‘4il’ Facebook page. ‘4il’ is an online platform which was established by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, in order to fight the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS). ‘4il’ did not take any action against the hateful speech and death threats and similar comments continue to be posted.
Shawan Jabarin was previously the subject of harassments due to his human rights work. He was under travel bans several times and he also received death threats in March 2016.
Front Line Defenders condemns the death threats against Shawan Jabarin and other members of Al Haq and calls on the Israeli government to take immediate measures to stop these online threats and incitement to violence.
