A human rights organization has raised serious concerns about the UAE’s harassment and arrest campaigns targeting Palestinian and Arab nationals who express solidarity with Palestinians amid ongoing violence in Gaza.
Rashid Masli, director of Alkarama Organization for Human Rights, criticized these actions, describing them as a disgraceful chapter in the history of Arab regimes and a breach of international human rights laws and the UAE’s obligations.
The UAE has reportedly subjected many residents of various Arab nationalities to arrest, torture, fines, and even deportation due to their online support for the Palestinian cause and the Gaza Strip, which has faced relentless violence for the past ten months.
The UAE announced the normalization of its relations with the Israeli occupation in August 2020, under the pretext that this would stop the Israeli annexation of the Jordan Valley areas of the West Bank.
However, UAE security services, directed by the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs, conducted arrests and deportations of individuals without legal basis, targeting those who showed online solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, according to media and human rights sources.
Victims’ Testimonies
According to various testimonies, detainees—primarily of Palestinian, Egyptian, Tunisian, Moroccan, and Algerian nationalities—were reportedly subjected to abduction-like treatment. Their mobile phones were confiscated and searched before they were interrogated and subjected to physical and psychological torture in prisons such as “Al-Awir,” “Al-Razeen,” “Al-Sadr,” and “Dubai Central.” Many were forced to pay fines of up to $250,000 before being deported from the UAE.
Arab media outlets have reported the testimony of a Palestinian resident, who requested anonymity for safety reasons, detailing that he was summoned by the State Security Service and interrogated simply for liking a friend’s Facebook post displaying images of Israeli atrocities in Gaza.
These repressive actions against even the smallest displays of solidarity with the Palestinian people starkly contrast with the UAE’s public claims of “supporting the Palestinians, expressing solidarity, and being firmly committed to assisting the residents of Gaza during these difficult times.”
Ironically, while the Emirati authorities crack down on those who show solidarity with Palestinians, they allow pro-UAE social media influencers to openly praise “Israel” and its policies, often at the expense of vilifying and inciting against Palestinians.
An estimated 400,000 Palestinians live in the UAE, many of whom have resided there for decades. However, they now live in fear, fully aware that expressing their opinions could subject them to repression and severe penalties by the Emirati authorities, according to human rights reports.
UN Warning
Independent UN human rights experts have raised alarms over a global surge in attacks, reprisals, criminalization, and sanctions against individuals who publicly express solidarity with the victims of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
In a recent press release, the experts noted, “Calls for an end to the violence and attacks in Gaza, for a humanitarian ceasefire, or criticism of Israeli government policies and actions have been misleadingly equated in many contexts with support for terrorism or anti-Semitism.”
The statement highlighted that journalists and media outlets in Israel and Western countries who publish reports critical of Israeli policies or express pro-Palestinian views have faced threats, intimidation, discrimination, and reprisals. This has increased the risk of self-censorship and undermined the diversity of news essential to press freedom and the public’s right to information. The experts also emphasized that similar policies are being observed in the UAE.
