Friday, March 29, 2013

1Yr Prison for Facebook Pic in PA

By Micah Halpern
I've Been Thinking:

A Palestinian Authority court in the West Bank has sentenced a journalist to one year in prison. It happened just yesterday

His crime was posting a picture on his own facebook page. The picture was a depiction of Abbas as a traitor.

Over the past few months human rights groups have lodged a series of complaints against Abbas for the way in which he is cracking down on civil rights in the West Bank.

Most often the people targeted by Abbas have been Hamas members. I agree that Hamas must be reigned in, especially in the West Bank, in order to control, rule and protect the Palestinian Authority. But this case is about a facebook picture.

A free and critical internet is part and parcel of the new media.

PA leadership must make a distinction between serious threats to their power and frivolous exercises in free speech. Once they accomplish that, they can focus on the real threats and not waste their time on facebook pictures or gratuitous tweets.

Micah@MicahHalpern.com 

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