Anti-corruption activist dies hours after being arrested and reportedly beaten by Palestinian security forces

By Steve Hendrix and Sufian Taha
June 24, 2021 at 8:36 a.m. EDT

JERUSALEM — A prominent critic of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank died in the custody of Palestinian security forces soon after being arrested at his house Thursday, according to Palestinian officials and the man's lawyer.

His family said that officers who stormed his bedroom began beating Nizar Banat while he was still in bed and that he was bleeding heavily from head wounds as they removed him from the house.

Banat was a well-known anti-corruption activist and opposition candidate who frequently called for Palestinian leaders, including President Mahmoud Abbas, to be held accountable for government failures and malfeasance.

According to his lawyer, security officers entered the house in Hebron where Banat was staying about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, saying they had a warrant for his arrest. An unidentified person posted on Banat’s Facebook page within minutes that officers were taking him. “They have confiscated his computer, phone and all his belongings, and are brutally beating him,” the post read.

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Critic of Palestinian Authority dies after violent arrest

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
June 24, 2021

JERUSALEM (AP) — An outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority who was a candidate in parliamentary elections called off earlier this year died after Palestinian security forces arrested him and beat him with batons on Thursday, his family said.

Nizar Banat was a harsh critic of the PA, which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, and had called on Western nations to cut off aid to it because of its authoritarianism and human rights violations. Earlier this week, another prominent activist was detained by the PA and held overnight after criticizing it on Facebook.

The crackdown on dissent comes as the internationally-backed PA faces a growing backlash from Palestinians who view it as corrupt and increasingly autocratic, a manifestation of a three-decade peace process that is nowhere close to delivering Palestinian independence. Hundreds took to the streets in protest after word spread of Banat’s death.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was elected to a four-year term in 2005, has little to show after more than a decade of close security coordination with Israel. The 85-year-old leader has been powerless to stop the expansion of Jewish settlements, home demolitions, evictions in Jerusalem and deadly Israeli military raids, and was largely ignored during the recent unrest in Jerusalem and the 11-day Gaza war.

Western nations nevertheless view the PA as a key partner for rebuilding Gaza, which is ruled by the militant Hamas group, and eventually reviving the moribund peace process.

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