100 Palestinians refuse security summonses since reconciliation agreement

Since the signing of the Palestinian reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas over three months ago, there has been a notable rise in the phenomenon of individuals refusing to comply with security summonses issued by the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatus.

Since the agreement was signed in May, a popular Palestinian campaign in the West Bank has recorded 100 cases of Palestinians rejecting summonses and refusing to go to the security premises for interrogation.

One of the youths responsible for the campaign, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Quds Press that since Hamas and Fatah signed the reconciliation agreement, the speed at which summonses are being issued had increased remarkably and that last June was definitely “the month of summonses”.

He said that the campaign had documented the number of summonses and the instances in which citizens had refused to comply with them on their facebook page publishing copies of the hand-written summonses sent by the Palestinian intelligence bodies and Palestinian Preventive Security Service. The activist also noted that some of the cases had not been documented due to their sensitive security nature – these include cases in which those summoned were forced to comply under the pressure and threats.

The activist added that among those who refused to comply with security summonses were writers and activists, including the journalist, Magdoline Hassouna; a former Palestinian Legislative Council candidate for Hamas; and a 50-year-old Palestinian woman – Raseela Al Titi from the Fawwar Refugee Camp in Hebron.

The Palestinian activist also noted that in some instances the security apparatus had put significant pressure on individuals to comply; they detained both Magdoline Hassouna’s brothers; stormed into Abdel Aziz Marei’s house more than once attacking family members; and severely beat up Abdelrahman Hendeya publicly in Nablus.

The youth campaign denounced the security apparatuses’ disregard for the obligations of the reconciliation agreement, which entails ending political detention and a halt in the policy of illegal security summoning. The campaign also demanded that Fatah force its security apparatus to abandon those policies that could lead to the failure of the reconciliation and increase tensions.