Palestinian Authority police arrest top anti-corruption activist

Fayez Sweiti is a resident of Hebron who describes himself as “a Palestinian activist against financial, administrative and political corruption in Palestinian institutions.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian police officers, wearing masks as a preventive measure against coronavirus (photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
Palestinian police officers, wearing masks as a preventive measure against coronavirus
(photo credit: REUTERS/AMMAR AWAD)
Palestinian Authority security forces, in a move that has sparked public outrage, on Wednesday arrested prominent anti-corruption activist Fayez Sweiti after he complained about unequal distribution of financial aid to Palestinians.
A resident of Hebron who describes himself as “a Palestinian activist against financial, administrative and political corruption in Palestinian institutions,” Sweiti is famous for his Facebook posts criticizing senior PA officials and institutions for their alleged involvement in corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
He also heads a group called “Hand in Hand Towards a Homeland Free of Corruption.”
Sweiti was taken into custody by PA security officers who raided his home in the town of Dura, near Hebron, on Tuesday night, Palestinian sources said.
Earlier this week, Sweiti received a phone call from a PA security officer who asked him to hand himself over, but he refused on the grounds that the summons was illegal, the sources added.
Shortly before his arrest, Sweiti posted on his Facebook page that he was planning to publish a video about the “corruption of the Palestinian police.”
The sources said that Sweiti lives in Area C, which is exclusively controlled by Israel, and his arrest shows that the PA security forces were continuing to conduct security coordination with the IDF.
On May 18, PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the Palestinians were “absolved” of all agreements and understandings with Israel, including security cooperation.
Following the announcement, PA officials said that security coordination with Israel has been suspended. Since then, PA security forces have reduced their activities in Area B and Area C of the West Bank.
Area B, which comprises about 22% of the West Bank, is under Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control.
Earlier this week, Sweiti published an open letter to the PA Minister of Labor in which he complained about corruption in the distribution of financial aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. According to the letter, several businessmen affiliated with the ruling Fatah faction in the Gaza Strip have received financial aid from the PA government even though they are not entitled to the benefits.
The financial aid was being distributed by the Wakfet Izz Fund, a national fund established by the PA government to face the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
On its official website, the funds states that it “aims to focus all national efforts towards contributing to enhancing the economic, social and health sectors impacted due to the crisis and reinforce the solidarity between Palestinians, through the participation of all institutions, companies, businessmen and individuals inside Palestine and the diaspora, in contributing through a centralized fund.”
In another Facebook post this week, Sweiti asked: “Where has the money of the Khaled Al-Hasan Cancer Center [in Ramallah] gone, you thieves? You collected millions [of dollars] in donations and transferred them to a private project.”
The Palestinian group Lawyers for Justice condemned the arrest of Sweiti and appealed to PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to release him immediately. The group said that Sweiti is the “most prominent anti-corruption activist in the West Bank” and expressed concern over his health in light of the spread of the coronavirus in the Hebron area and other parts of the West Bank.


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