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The case of Z., a businessman from East Jerusalem, is an example of the physical transfer of information from civil administration officials to Palestinian preventive security forces. Z. arrived at the Ramallah DCO to handle the registration of ownership of the land he owns in the Jerusalem area. He submitted documents to the registry clerk and left. The next day, he received a call from a blocked number. On the other end of the line was the preventive security guard, who called him for questioning at one of the preventive security facilities in the Ramallah area. When he arrived for questioning a few days later, he was asked why he had approached the Civil Administration to handle the registration of ownership in his name. He was made clear that he was suspected of ‘intending to sell land to the Jews’, even though he was not a Palestinian authority subject at all. After he rejected these claims, he was presented with the document that he had submitted a few days earlier to the registration clerk at the Ramallah DCO. This is a serious case since it is clear that personal and confidential information was transferred from the Ramallah DCO to the Palestinian security forces. There were no other means for them to gain access to the sensitive information. In order to protect Z's personal safety, we cannot publish any further details. However, we have documentation in which he recounts what happened, and even a signed affidavit to an attorney about the correctness of the statements. Portions of his testimony were published in an investigation published on Channel 13 in March 2021. |
