Israel wants to control the Palestinian population in the occupied territories as comprehensively as possible. The latest computer technology is used in Hebron for this purpose. Human rights activists say this is just the beginning.
The first thing you notice when walking around Hebron is the silence. 230,000 Palestinians live in the city in the southern, Israeli-occupied West Bank. Right in the middle: around 800 Jewish settlers who are guarded by around 3,000 soldiers. In order to avoid direct contact, some streets in the city center have been “sterilized”, as it is called in military jargon. That means: There is no more business here, no life. Palestinians are not allowed on these streets.
identification by camera
And to control everything, there are 21 checkpoints in Hebron. Palestinians have to identify themselves, sometimes they have to undress.
The latest computer technology is now being used here, says Nadav Weiman from the Israeli organization “Breaking the Silence”: “When Palestinians come to a checkpoint, they are identified by the cameras. And the soldier inside, behind bulletproof glass, with air conditioning, with a Button that opens the door gets the information about the Palestinian A color appears around his photo Green: He can get through Yellow: Stop him, maybe there is a problem, call the switchboard And if it’s red : Arrest.”
“They use us for their experiments”
Issa Amro has been arrested many times. The human rights activist is very well known in Hebron, and he regularly leads groups through the city.
He describes the consequences of the Israeli occupation for the people: “We found out that they are using a special technology here to violate our privacy, to watch us, to monitor us, to spy on us and to talk about us – without our consent – Collecting data. They don’t explain anything to us, we can’t say whether we want that or not. We know it’s not about security, it’s about making our lives even harder. For me as a human rights activist and as a citizen. They use us for their experiments.”
Hundreds, maybe thousands of cameras
“Red Wolf” – “Red Wolf” is the name of the program with which the checkpoints are equipped. And then there’s Blue Wolf, a mobile phone app that soldiers can use to take pictures of Palestinians and collect data. This data is then compared with the current recordings from the cameras, as former soldiers have described it. And there are hundreds of those cameras in Hebron, maybe thousands.
We enter the roof of a Palestinian family. The military installed a modern camera here – it’s aimed straight at Amro’s house: “I have nothing to hide, I’m not a security problem, I defend human rights. And I worry about my data if it falls into the wrong hands . I don’t trust all the soldiers. The settlers who attack me, everyone who sees me as someone who denounces the Israeli occupation. The dates are not in the hands of the right people.”
Latest technology makes manning easier
A report by Amnesty International, like “Breaking the Silence”, comes to the conclusion that Israel is using the latest technology to make the occupation of Palestinian territories even more efficient. Testimonies from former soldiers confirm this, says Weiman: “The computer tells you what you should do and that makes the crew easier. It’s easier to check what you’re doing. Soldiers tell us: These systems make them feel further away from the occupation. If you want a sustainable, indefinite occupation, as Israel understands it, then you have to make it easier for the soldiers and easier for society. The less direct contact you can have with Palestinians, the better.”
And Hebron is just the beginning in the eyes of human rights activists. The technology has long since been used in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank. The goal: Comprehensive, automated control of the Palestinian population. Do the people there agree? You weren’t asked.