Israeli police intervenes to hundreds of protesters gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence to protest against his government and violation of ceasefire with Hamas in Jerusalem on March 19, 2025. [Mostafa Alkhrouf - Anadolu Agency]
Israeli police intervenes to hundreds of protesters gathered outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence to protest against his government and violation of ceasefire with Hamas in Jerusalem on March 19, 2025. [Mostafa Alkhrouf – Anadolu Agency]
The Israeli Knesset (parliament) recently approved a draft law prohibiting any university student organisation from expressing sympathy with entities deemed hostile to the occupation of Palestinian territory, particularly resistance forces, which it labels as “terrorists”. This law specifically targets student unions and blocs associated with Palestinian students from the occupied territories.
The legislation is just one in a series of repressive laws enacted by the occupation state against its own Palestinian citizens since the launch of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023. Just one month after the war began, the Knesset approved an amendment to the Counter-Terrorism Law, imposing a one-year prison sentence on anyone who accesses social media content that the law deems to be “incitement”.
The amendment granted security agencies the power to pursue Palestinian citizens of Israel based on the social media accounts they follow or the posts they interact with, and thus represents a blatant violation of human rights. Consequently, persecution and legal actions against activists have intensified due to their comments on social media.
By late 2024, the Knesset passed another law that further tightened restrictions on Palestinian teachers in Israel, facilitating their prosecution, dismissal and the defunding of their schools should they express political or national views opposing the occupation.
Such political persecution is part of a broader campaign targeting activists among Israel’s Palestinian citizens, reflecting a deliberate strategy to stifle freedom of expression. In recent months, numerous arrests have been made of lawyers, artists, politicians and ordinary individuals because of their social media posts.
The war on Gaza coincided with an expansion of the occupation state’s control and repression mechanisms against its own Palestinian citizens.
This has forced them into self-censorship and digital silence following widespread attacks, pressure and interrogation by Israeli security agencies. These agencies fear that social media posts might encourage greater engagement between Palestinians in Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza. Some individuals have even been arrested or persecuted simply for sharing verses from the Qur’an.
In response, the Israeli Attorney General established a special unit to combat what is called “digital terrorism”, effectively turning it into a tool for monitoring and suppressing Palestinian content. Its surveillance intensified after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, fostering a climate of digital terror that has deterred many Palestinian Israeli citizens from expressing their opinions or engaging with content about the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The occupation has deployed “snipers” on social media to track and monitor accounts belonging to Palestinian citizens, scrutinising their posts and interactions. As a result, many now find themselves subjected to oppressive laws designed specifically to persecute, prosecute and punish them solely for expressing solidarity with the people in Gaza. Some have even been threatened with having their Israeli citizenship revoked.
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Moreover, a far-right extremist group called Nazi Hunters has emerged, publishing lists of Palestinian activists’ names, photos and home addresses to facilitate their targeting for assassination.
The occupation has weaponised its legal framework under the pretext of counterterrorism to suppress any potential mobilisation among Palestinian citizens of the occupation state. The updated 2016 Counter-Terrorism Law redefines expressions of opinion, participation in demonstrations and even tweets as forms of incitement. Those accused can be prosecuted for allegedly supporting terrorist acts and face long prison sentences.
In addition, the occupation has implemented a series of pre-emptive repressive measures, backed by broad public support, to criminalise any written, visual or spoken expression of solidarity with Gaza, whether online, in workplaces or educational institutions, or during protests against the war. This repression has been particularly severe in cities such as Haifa, Umm Al-Fahm and Tayibe, where Israeli police have assaulted and arrested dozens of protesters.
This intensive and violent crackdown on free speech involves various official and unofficial arms of the occupation state, both military and civilian.
Even ordinary Israelis without official positions have played a role in persecuting and punishing the Palestinian fellow citizens, monitoring their social media accounts, spying on them, reporting and inciting against them, and defaming, threatening and physically assaulting them. Dozens of administrative detention orders have been issued without formal charges or trials.
The crackdown has affected all segments of society. Even children have not been spared; the police pursued a ten-year-old boy and expelled him from school on suspicion of supporting terrorism, only to discover later that he was autistic.
Every statement or tweet opposing killing, destruction and war — or expressing any form of sympathy for the Palestinians in Gaza — has been equated with support for Hamas. This has led to waves of arrests under the pretext of endorsing the movement.
Palestinian university students have been placed under intense Israeli scrutiny, with university administrations taking harsh punitive action against them. Dozens have been expelled, either temporarily or permanently, over their social media activity. Some students have been forcibly evicted from their housing, and universities have even reported their activities to the police to facilitate legal action against them with accusations of supporting or sympathising with the resistance groups. Hundreds of students have faced disciplinary action.
Israel’s aggressive policy against its Palestinian citizens is rooted in the assumption that they are enemies rather than citizens. The state treats them as a security threat, a fifth column and a strategic danger. Minister of the Economy Nir Barkat, claimed that, “If only one per cent of Palestinian citizens of Israel — who number over two million — rise against us, that would mean 20,000 people, and they could reach every corner of the state.” One-fifth of the Israeli population are non-Jews, mainly Palestinians.
“Anyone who wants to align with Gaza,” said Police Commissioner, Yaakov Shabtai, “I will put them on buses heading there, because we are at war.”
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