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5 - 11 May: Digital Rights Weekly Update

2023-05-11

Check out our weekly report

1.

Chilling Effect’: Israel’s Ongoing Surveillance of Palestinians (English)

Al-Jazeera

On May 2, Amnesty published a report titled Automated Apartheid, detailing the workings of Israel’s Red Wolf programme – a facial recognition technology used to track Palestinians since last year that is believed to be linked to similar, earlier programmes known as Blue Wolf and Wolf Pack. The technology has been deployed at checkpoints in the city of Hebron and other parts of the occupied West Bank – scanning the faces of Palestinians and comparing them against existing databases.

 

2.

Harnessing Open-Source Intelligence for Palestinian Liberation

 (English)

Al-Shabaka

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is revolutionizing the flow of information across the globe. Through a process of collecting, analyzing, and sharing publicly available content online—including cellphone videos, social media posts, and satellite images—OSINT analysts are exposing critical intelligence once monopolized by state authorities. From Syria to Ukraine, OSINT is used to uncover war crimes and human rights violations that might otherwise remain obscured. Against the backdrop of declining trust in media and government institutions, along with the growing threat of mis and disinformation, OSINT is proving to be an increasingly valuable tool in facilitating transparency and objectivity

 

 

3.

Israeli Security Agency Defends Use of Threatening Messages (English)

abc News

Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency is defending its use of a sophisticated surveillance tool that was used to send threatening text messages to Palestinian protesters during unrest at Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site two years ago.A leading civil rights group has asked Israel’s Supreme Court to halt the practice, saying the threatening messages exceeded the authorities of the Shin Bet. It has also noted that the messages were sent erroneously to people uninvolved in the unrest.In a May 4 submission, the Shin Bet asked the court to dismiss the case. It said the tracking technology was a legitimate tool within the scope of its authority.It described the misfired messages as an isolated error, said it had identified “several specific flaws in the manner of sending the messages” and updated its guidelines to prevent similar mistakes in the future.

 

 

4.

Cybersecurity and Espionage Battles: How Israel is Targeting Palestinian Activists (Arabic)

Misbar

The Israeli occupation has expanded its control over the Palestinian territories through surveillance and spying technologies developed by Israeli security companies. To gain access to accurate information about Palestinians and resistance leaders, Israel initially employed spy networks working for its intelligence agency and special operations unit, Mossad, according to confessions detailed in Gordon Thomas' book, "Gideon's Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad." In his book, Thomas reveals that Mossad's first security doctrine is "Israel first and last and always and forever," without regard for the means used to subjugate Palestinians, even if that means falsifying facts, spreading lies, and disseminating false information through Mossad spies to weaken and intimidate the Palestinian population.

 

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