Bethlehem, occupied West Bank - As uniformed men burst
through her front gate last month, Nidal Atwan first thought they had come to
her Bethlehem-area home to arrest her 16-year-old son, Mohammed.
"It was two o'clock in the morning. If you saw the
number of military jeeps, you'd think Osama bin Laden was in the
neighbourhood," recalled Nidal's husband, Yousef.
Majd, a makeup artist, has a passion for bold hair colours
and crystal-enhanced manicures [Photo courtesy of Nidal Atwan]
To their surprise, soldiers pulled Nidal aside and asked
after the whereabouts of her 22-year-old daughter, Majd, a makeup artist with a
passion for bold hair colours and crystal-enhanced manicures.
In disbelief, Nidal asked the commander to show her the
warrant, which stated that Majd was wanted on incitement charges over posts
made on social media. "I was shocked and furious," Nidal told Al
Jazeera.
"It struck me immediately, once they said they wanted
Majd, that it was probably over Facebook," Yousef added.
On Monday, an Israeli military court sentenced Majd to 45
days in prison and a fine of 3,000 shekels ($800) for praising a recent bus
bombing in Jerusalem.
Before Majd's arrest, Yousef and Nidal said they were aware
of - but not alarmed by - their daughter's online presence. They expressed
surprise that her post led to a series of interrogations at Jerusalem's Russian
Compound, a police facility whose name evokes fear among many Palestinians.
Did she write stuff online? Yeah, like all other
Palestinians. I really don't understand why they chose to arrest her.
"My daughter is not politically active; rather, her
involvements are in beauty," Yousef said. "Did she write stuff online?
Yeah, like all other Palestinians. I really don't understand why they chose to
arrest her."
Since her arrest, Majd has been shepherded to and from court
on six occasions as her case has moved through the system. The process has been
hard on her, her parents told Al Jazeera, as Majd suffers from a number of
health issues, including anaemia.
Majd's lawyer, Tareq Barghouti, told Al Jazeera that the
Israeli military had monitored his client for two months before arriving at her
house to make the arrest. One year ago, such charges would have been unheard
of, he said, but "it has become a common thing these days, and there has
been a wave of arrests on these Facebook posts".
Majd is one of nearly 150 Palestinians detained by Israeli
forces over Facebook-related "incitement" since a wave of violence
erupted in the region last October, according to prisoners' rights group
Addameer. The numbers are a sharp increase from the 13 cases they documented in
2014.
Of those jailed in the past year, most were held in administrative
detention without charge for three months. The maximum sentence for incitement
is 10 years.
A spokesperson for the Israeli army confirmed to Al Jazeera
that 59 Palestinians had been found guilty of provocative statements made
online since last autumn. Some Palestinian attackers, including Muhannad
Halabi, have written threatening statements on social media before launching
attacks against Israelis.
The Israeli military is now monitoring Palestinian internet
pages, searching for expressions of intent or approval of harming Israelis.
"We have been studying very closely those patterns of incitement in
Palestinian society," Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Emmanuel
Nahshon told Al Jazeera.
To those who know Majd, however, she does not fit the profile
of someone who would incite others to violence.
"Since she was a baby, she has loved nails," Nidal
said, flipping through her smartphone among photographs of Majd in a range of
daring styles; in one, she sports blonde hair with purple streaks, while in
another, it flows long and red.
After she graduated high school, Majd began working as a
stylist while earning two certificates in cosmetology, her parents said. When
she is not applying makeup to clients or painting manicures, she spends her
time with her mother, who works at a nearby gym. Majd enjoys swimming while her
mother is busy with customers.
"We are not just mother and daughter; we are like
sisters, like best friends," Nidal said.
The morning before Majd was arrested, mother and daughter
perfected their makeup before driving to a grassy field near an Israeli
settlement, Nidal said. They spent the afternoon taking pictures of each other
enjoying nature, posing next to trees and brush.
Works Cited
Deger, Allison. "Israel Jails Palestinian Beautician over Facebook Post." - AJE News. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
Response
It’s really sad that Palestine does not respect people’s
freedom of speech. I can see how it is detrimental to the country for
publicizing bombings and such, but I think they may have overreacted. As
mentioned in the article, Majd is simply a 22 year old interested in makeup and
as her dad said, several other Palestinians have been writing their thoughts on
social media. The article is biased in some ways since the author was clearly
in support of Majd’s family and their reaction towards the whole situation. I
also think the police were wrong in invading Majd’s house the way they did.
Hopefully in the future more laws will be put in place to respect people’s
privacy and most of all freedom of speech.
