How Israel automated occupation in Hebron | The Listening Post

Summary

The video script explores the intense surveillance and control mechanisms in Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank. It delves into the Israeli military's use of technology, including facial recognition and AI-driven systems, to monitor and manage the Palestinian population, creating a 'smart city' environment. The script also discusses the role of settlers in reinforcing this surveillance, using their own security systems and even drones to intimidate Palestinians. The narrative highlights the impact of these measures on the daily lives of Palestinians, suggesting a form of digital apartheid and the dehumanizing effects of constant surveillance.

Takeaways

• 😷 Hebron, a city in the occupied West Bank, is a focal point for Israeli settlers and is characterized by a heavy military presence and surveillance.
• 🏠 Jewish settlers in Hebron have illegally taken over Palestinian homes, living in the heart of the city under the protection of Israeli forces.
• 📈 The city is divided into H1, under Palestinian Authority control, and H2, under full Israeli control, with the latter being a center for settler activity.
• 👮 Israeli military surveillance in H2 is extensive, with the aim of protecting settlers and controlling the Palestinian population.
• 🚨 The Israeli military uses advanced technologies like CCTV and facial recognition to monitor Palestinians, contributing to a 'carceral' atmosphere.
• 📈 There has been a significant rise in settler violence against Palestinians, with incidents in Hebron occurring almost daily.
• 🛃 Palestinians face numerous checkpoints and are subject to a tiered system of surveillance, which can lead to arbitrary delays and restrictions on their movement.
• 🤖 AI-driven surveillance is touted as a means to create a 'frictionless' occupation, but it also serves to deepen control over Palestinians and potentially entrench apartheid.
• 📱 Israeli forces use several systems, including Red Wolf, Blue Wolf, and White Wolf, to collect and analyze data on Palestinians, creating a comprehensive profile database.
• 🌐 Settlers also operate their own surveillance systems, sometimes with funding from international sources, further complicating the landscape of control and surveillance in the West Bank.

Q & A

What is the significance of Hebron in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Hebron is a place of religious significance, attracting some of Israel's most extreme settlers who have illegally taken over Palestinian homes. It is unique because settlers live in the heart of the city, unlike other Palestinian cities.

How is Hebron divided and what does each section represent?

Hebron is divided into two sections: H1, where the Palestinian Authority has nominal control, and H2, which is under full Israeli control. This division is designed to protect the 800 settlers living in H2 among around 40,000 Palestinians.

What is the term used to describe areas in H2 where Palestinians are forbidden?

The official term used to describe areas in H2 where Palestinians are forbidden is 'sterile areas'.

What is the term 'carcerial' used to describe in the context of Hebron?

The term 'carcerial' is used to describe the feeling of being constantly monitored and controlled, as if living in a prison that extends beyond physical boundaries into every aspect of life.

How has the number of settler attacks against Palestinians changed in recent years?

Over the last five years, the number of settler attacks against Palestinians has risen by almost 200 percent, with incidents in Hebron occurring almost daily.

What is the Israeli military's term for Hebron and what does it imply?

The Israeli military refers to Hebron as a 'smart city,' which is a euphemism for the extensive system of surveillance and facial recognition operated on Palestinians.

What is the purpose of the Israeli military's surveillance systems in Hebron?

The surveillance systems are designed to control and monitor the Palestinian population, with the stated goal of reducing friction and making the occupation more 'humanitarian,' but in reality, they contribute to a deeply invasive and controlling environment.

What are the 'Red Wolf,' 'Blue Wolf,' and 'White Wolf' systems and how do they function?

Red Wolf is a biometric registration system used at permanent checkpoints. Blue Wolf is a facial recognition app used in the field during raids or at temporary checkpoints. White Wolf is an app for settlers to check if Palestinian workers have the correct permits, giving them access to government data.

How does the Israeli military's use of AI and surveillance technologies impact the daily lives of Palestinians?

The use of AI and surveillance technologies creates a digitally mediated prison environment, where Palestinians feel their every movement, online and offline activities, and even thoughts are monitored, leading to a deeply invasive and dehumanizing experience.

What is the historical context of surveillance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Surveillance practices date back to British rule, with the creation of detailed records on Palestinian communities. These were later adopted and expanded by Jewish paramilitary groups and the Israeli military, leading to the current extensive surveillance systems.

How do settlers contribute to the surveillance and control of Palestinians in the West Bank?

Settlers operate their own security camera systems and use technologies like drones to monitor Palestinian activities, often with the support of foreign funding. This allows them to exert control and contribute to the occupation in ways that may be subject to less regulation than the Israeli military.

Outlines

00:00

🏭 Hebron: A Militarized Surveillance Laboratory

Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, is highlighted as a site of religious significance and a focal point for extreme Israeli settlers who have illegally occupied Palestinian homes. The city is under heavy surveillance, with Israeli soldiers and settlers celebrating together during Jewish holidays. Palestinians here face extreme monitoring and control, living in what's described as a 'military surveillance laboratory.' The city is divided into two sections: H1, under Palestinian Authority control, and H2, fully controlled by Israel to protect settlers, despite international law deeming these settlements illegal. The narrative describes the transformation of Hebron's environment through checkpoints and surveillance, creating a 'carceral' feeling for its Palestinian residents.

05:00

👮‍♂️ The All-Seeing Gaze: Surveillance and Control in Hebron

The Israeli military dubs Hebron a 'smart city,' reflecting its extensive surveillance and facial recognition systems targeting Palestinians. The narrative details the everyday life of a resident, Karaki, who navigates through a network of cameras and checkpoints, experiencing routine checks and delays. The system categorizes Palestinians into security levels—red, yellow, and green—based on their interactions with the military. The pervasive surveillance is not only dense but also invasive, with cameras often facing inwards towards homes. The military's intent is to compile a database of Palestinian faces to facilitate control at checkpoints, using AI systems to process individuals' data without their consent, creating a 'digitally mediated prison.'

10:01

🐺 The Wolf Systems: Biometrics and Data Collection

This section delves into the Israeli military's use of biometric registration and surveillance systems, collectively referred to as the 'Wolf Systems.' Red Wolf is used at permanent checkpoints for biometric registration, Blue Wolf is a facial recognition app for field use, and White Wolf allows settlers to verify Palestinian workers' permits. These systems feed into Wolf Pack, a database aiming to profile every Palestinian in the West Bank. The military's data collection is gamified, with soldiers competing for data collection, leading to dehumanization. The video also discusses the use of AI in surveillance, such as 'smart shooters' and anomaly detection sensors, which flag unusual activities, further entrenching a form of digital racial hierarchy.

15:03

📚 Historical Roots and Contemporary Surveillance

The script traces the history of Palestinian surveillance back to British rule, detailing how colonial strategies of surveillance and intelligence gathering were adopted and expanded upon by Israeli forces. It discusses the 'Village Files,' a comprehensive survey by the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group, which laid the foundation for Israel's colonial bureaucracy. The narrative connects past practices with modern technologies, showing how surveillance has evolved from intercepting communications to employing biometrics, CCTV, and spyware, all aimed at controlling the Palestinian population. The Israeli military's use of AI-driven surveillance is presented as a means to a 'frictionless occupation,' but the reality is a covert deepening of control and a form of invisible apartheid.

20:05

🔭 Settler Surveillance: Outsourced Occupation

This part exposes how Israeli settlements in the West Bank operate their own security camera systems, funded by organizations like the One Israel Fund, which channels money from the United States to these settlements. It discusses the use of drones equipped with infrared cameras by settlers to monitor and intimidate Palestinians, disrupting their livelihoods. The narrative suggests a collaboration between the Israeli military and settlers, with the latter being used to outsource aspects of the occupation, subject to less regulation and oversight. The Israeli military's refusal to comment on their operational capabilities is noted, but a former Israeli General acknowledges the complexity and human rights violations inherent in the occupation, suggesting that while surveillance aids counter-terrorism, it also serves to control the Palestinian population.

25:08

🌆 Nowhere to Hide: The Unbearable Reality of Occupation

The final paragraph underscores the pervasive and invasive nature of surveillance in the lives of Palestinians, suggesting that the advanced security systems and surveillance technologies, while touted as humane and frictionless, are in reality deeply invasive and dehumanizing. It conveys the unbearable nature of living under constant surveillance, where every movement, online and offline communication, and even personal thoughts seem to be monitored, documenting the profound impact on the daily lives and human rights of Palestinians.

Keywords

💡Occupied West Bank

The Occupied West Bank refers to the area of Palestine that has been under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. In the video, it is depicted as a place where tensions are high, with Israeli settlers and military presence impacting the daily lives of Palestinians. The script mentions Hebron, a city in the West Bank, as a focal point for the conflict and a center for Israeli settlements.

💡Settlers

Settlers in this context are Jewish communities that have moved into the Occupied West Bank, often establishing homes in areas that are considered illegal under international law. The video discusses how these settlers coexist with the Israeli military and how their presence contributes to the surveillance and control of Palestinian populations.

💡Surveillance

Surveillance is a key theme in the video, highlighting the extensive monitoring systems used by the Israeli military in the Occupied Territories. The script describes a network of CCTV cameras, facial recognition technology, and other surveillance methods that create a 'military surveillance laboratory,' particularly in Hebron, where Palestinians are under constant watch.

💡Facial Recognition

Facial recognition is a technology that identifies individuals by analyzing patterns in their facial features. The video script mentions its use by the Israeli military to monitor Palestinians, creating a sense of a 'carceral' environment where privacy is severely limited. The technology is part of a broader system aimed at controlling and categorizing the Palestinian population.

💡Checkpoints

Checkpoints are control points established by the Israeli military to regulate the movement of people in and out of certain areas. The script describes how Palestinians must navigate through numerous checkpoints daily, often leading to delays and harassment, illustrating the restrictive measures imposed on their freedom of movement.

💡Smart City

The term 'Smart City' is used in the video to describe the use of advanced technology for surveillance and control in Hebron. It is a euphemism for the extensive system of cameras and facial recognition that the Israeli military operates, which is presented as making the occupation more 'humanitarian' but is criticized in the video for its invasive and dehumanizing effects.

💡AI-driven Surveillance

AI-driven surveillance refers to the use of artificial intelligence to automate and enhance surveillance practices. In the video, it is discussed as a tool that allows for the collection and analysis of vast amounts of data on Palestinians, contributing to a 'digitally mediated prison' and enabling more sophisticated control over the population.

💡Biometrics

Biometrics is the measurement and statistical analysis of people's unique physical and behavioral characteristics, such as fingerprints or facial patterns. The video script mentions the use of biometric registration at checkpoints, where Palestinians are assessed against information held by the Israeli military, further illustrating the high level of surveillance and control.

💡Database

The video discusses the creation of a database by Israeli authorities, which consists exclusively of Palestinian faces and personal information. This database is used to track and control the movement of Palestinians, reinforcing the theme of surveillance and control. It is presented as part of a broader system that treats Palestinians as a homogeneous group subject to constant scrutiny.

💡Apartheid

Apartheid is a system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination. The video uses this term to describe the effects of Israeli policies in the Occupied West Bank, suggesting that the extensive surveillance and control measures are part of a system that separates and discriminates against Palestinians, similar to the historical apartheid regime in South Africa.

💡Human Rights

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms to which all individuals are entitled. The video script references human rights violations as a consequence of the surveillance and control measures imposed on Palestinians. It highlights the tension between the need for security, as cited by the Israeli military, and the protection of basic rights and freedoms for the Palestinian population.

Highlights

Hebron is a place of religious significance and a magnet for some of Israel's most extreme settlers.

Settlers in Hebron are illegally taking over Palestinian homes.

Hebron is unique as settlers live in the heart of the city, unlike other Palestinian cities.

Jewish settlers and Israeli soldiers celebrate together during Jewish holidays.

Palestinians in Hebron are heavily monitored, with the city being a military surveillance laboratory.

Hebron is divided into H1, under Palestinian Authority control, and H2, under full Israeli control.

Israel's control in H2 is designed to protect 800 settlers illegally living among 40,000 Palestinians.

Settler Itamar Ben-Gvir, convicted of inciting anti-Arab racism, is now Israel's minister of National Security.

Hebron's sacred old city is under military lockdown, with some parts designated as 'sterile' areas forbidden to Palestinians.

The Israeli military operates an extensive network of CCTV and facial recognition cameras in Hebron.

The feeling of constant surveillance is described as 'carceral', following Palestinians everywhere.

Settler violence against Palestinians has risen by almost 200 percent in the last five years.

Hebron is referred to as a 'smart city' due to its advanced surveillance systems.

The Israeli military uses a system called 'Red Wolf' to biometrically register and assess Palestinians at checkpoints.

The 'Blue Wolf' app is used by Israeli forces for facial recognition during raids or at temporary checkpoints.

The 'White Wolf' app allows settlers to check if Palestinian workers have the correct permits.

The 'Wolf Pack' database aims to build a profile of every Palestinian in the West Bank.

Settlers have their own security camera system, separate from the military, often with more extensive coverage.

The One Israel Fund, an American organization, funds surveillance equipment for settlers, including drones and cameras.

The Israeli military's use of AI-driven surveillance is claimed to deliver a 'frictionless' occupation, but it also deepens control over Palestinians.

Surveillance technologies are portrayed as making the occupation more humane, but they are invasive and dehumanizing for Palestinians.

Transcripts

[Music]

foreign

the occupied West Bank

[Music]

the chatter on a soldiers radio tells us

we're being watched

[Music]

Hebron is a place of religious

significance which makes it a magnet for

some of Israel's most extreme settlers

Jewish communities who've illegally

taken over Palestinian homes

[Music]

no

[Music]

[Applause]

but what's unique about Hebron unlike

any other Palestinian city is that the

settlers are here in the hearts of the

city

[Music]

today is the Jewish holiday pouring and

the settlers are celebrating arm in arm

with Israeli soldiers

[Applause]

thank you

Palestinians in Hebron are some of the

most heavily monitored and controlled

people on the planet

in the military surveillance laboratory

that is the occupied territories Hebron

is Ground Zero

[Music]

Hebron is the West Bank's largest city

and it's being hollowed out from within

the Israeli military enforces a policy

of Separation here the city was divided

into two sections in 1997. h-1 where the

Palestinian Authority has nominal

control and H2 which is under full

Israeli control

Israel's Authority in H2 is designed to

protect 800 settlers living here

illegally according to international law

amongst around 40 000 Palestinians

yeah

[Applause]

one of those settlers happens to be item

who has been convicted of inciting

anti-arab racism and supporting a

terrorist group he is now Israel's

minister of National Security

[Music]

to safeguard The Saturdays hebron's

sacred old city is under military

lockdown some parts of H2 have been

designated sterile that's the official

term areas where Palestinians are

forbidden

over the years the locals have seen the

environments around them transformed

inch by inch house by house checkpoint

by checkpoint

Hebron is full of what the Israeli

military likes to call friction that

lends itself to many new ways to

innovate technologies that promise to

reduce the so-called friction and make

Israel's occupation more humanitarian

for Palestinians this is what the

Israeli military claims the streets are

covered in CCTV cameras in facial

recognition cameras that give the

Israeli military in the intelligence

forces a full 24 7 and encompassing view

of Palestinian life in the city I think

the best word for it is carceral the

feeling that prison is not within a

bounded space but it follows you

wherever you go into the city's streets

in your home into your bedroom and that

there's no escaping it

across the West Bank Palestinians are

experiencing an explosion of military

and settler violence

in one week in February the Israeli

military raided the city of Naples

killing 11 people

a few days later Palestinian gunmen shot

and killed two settlers in Hawaii

[Music]

hundreds of Saturdays then marched into

the town escorted and protected by

Israeli soldiers and indulged in an

hours-long Rampage

by Sunrise hundreds of vehicles homes

and shops had been torched

[Music]

over the last five years the number of

settler attacks against Palestinians has

risen by almost 200 percent

in Hebron they happen almost every day

[Music]

the Israeli military likes to call

Hebron a smart city it's a euphemism for

the elaborate system of surveillance and

facial recognition they are operating

here on Palestinians

if we count how many cameras we have

here how many cameras we can see one two

three four five six seven eight nine ten

cameras

with that said karaki lives in H2 he

walked me through how the cameras and

checkpoints shape his everyday routine

we have 22 Israeli checkpoint as as the

one you see what you have to know that

this chick boy recognized me even before

I get into the cheekbone sometime the

soldier tell me is that give me your ID

He Knows My Name already they know that

I'm crossing the cheekbone

10 times per day but each time they have

to check my body

to let me get into my to my to my house

not only that Palestinians are levels

for them which is red yellow and green

if you are Palestinian and you have been

arrested by the Army you might be in the

in the in the red level

for example if you are known to them and

they know you resist occupation you

might be like you know in the yellow

sometime when I want to cross the

checkpoint the soldier can keep me three

hours for no reason this is the Israel

so if they want to kill your day they

can easily do it they can keep you at

the checkpoint for three hours after

that nothing will happen they will not

be accountable at all

[Music]

it's something you hear across Hebron an

awareness that the All-Seeing gaze of

the city's network of cameras are

designed to protect the settlers not

Palestinians

it's not just the density of cameras in

Palestinian neighborhoods that gives it

away it's the direction they face often

inwards towards people's homes invading

their most intimate spaces

Untamed lives in a neighborhood just

outside the old city

two years ago Israeli soldiers forced

their way into her home and turned her

roof into a surveillance post

foreign

foreign

along with an investigation by Amnesty

International have given us a more

complete picture of the various systems

of surveillance in use and how invasive

they are Israeli authorities are trying

to collate and create a database

exclusively consisting of Palestinian

faces so the idea is that when you're

arriving at the checkpoint if that

information exists on you such as who is

related to you have you been here before

are you due to be taken in for detention

or questioning that is flacked on the

system and a soldier is able to decide

whether you can pass or not

they can no longer count on the soldier

perhaps recognizing them on knowing them

because it's a computer system into

which they have been conscripted without

their knowledge or without their consent

[Music]

they now have to be processed through a

machine learning algorithm before they

get to live their lives whether it's by

getting to access education work or

medical services that's now governed by

this AI system

[Music]

artificial intelligence has created what

feels like a digitally mediated prison

in Hebron the military recently

installed this autonomous weapon a

so-called smart shooter

[Music]

it's powered by AI which means it can

shoot without human intervention

amnesty has also documented the use of

something called anomalies detection

sensors and algorithms that flag the

presence of individuals or objects that

the Israeli military would consider out

of the ordinary

[Music]

in addition soldiers use a number of

overlapping programs that collate

information on Palestinians to Monitor

and govern their movement

the first previously unreported system

is Red Wolf that's the one used at

permanent checkpoints where Palestinians

are biometrically registered and

assessed against information held on

them soldiers teach Redwolf by pairing

new faces with IDs and other

biographical information

then there's blue wolf a facial

recognition app Israeli forces use in

the field on raids or at temporary

checkpoints to capture photos of

Palestinians

the third system is white wolf an app

for settlers allowing them to check if

Palestinian workers have the correct

permits it gives the settlers access to

confidential government data

connecting all of this is wolf pack a

database that aims to build a profile of

every Palestinian in the West Bank

including information like a person's

name where they live their family

members car license plates and whether

they are wanted or not

according to testimonies from veterans

Israeli soldiers are even incentivized

to compete with one another over who can

collect the most data and photos of

Palestinians it's just one of the ways

the occupation here in Hebron is being

gamified

this creates an idea that Palestinians

are just

objects out there waiting to be

photographed and that may help your unit

to reap some form of reward but is

ultimately leading to dehumanization of

an entire racialized group

the Israeli military refuses to confirm

its use of facial recognition but in

addition to the testimonials gathered by

veterans group breaking silence we also

have a leaked training video for blue

Wharf so it says here soldiers can

identify a Palestinian in three ways

typing their ID number facial

recognition or a photo of their ID

this is interesting soldiers can search

for people using things like a car's

plate number but they can also attach

information about Palestinians to their

profile so here it instructs the soldier

to take a photo not just of the driver's

ID but all the passengers too and when

you look at this video you can see why

soldiers have dubbed blue wolf a secret

Facebook for Palestinians

blue wolf enhances the military's

ability to carry out what it's called

mapping roads when soldiers invade

Palestinian homes to gather intelligence

soldiers say it's part of a practice of

making their presence felt

this raid on a home in Hebron shows what

Israeli mapping of Palestinian

communities looks like

around a dozen children still half

asleep forced to line up to have their

photos taken illegally by soldiers

[Music]

I don't think there's any point in

history in which

the creation of a database

consisting exclusively of one ethnic or

racialized group

has ever led to any good outcome

we are dealing with something that we

have recognized as apartheid and in this

context the creation of a database

exclusively for Palestinians to stop

them from entering particular spaces to

stop them from being able to live

fulfilling lives to stop them from being

able to access Family and Medical

Services

dot itself is sort of re-entrenching the

form of apartheid that we've been

witnessing over the many decades it's

creating a sort of a digital racial

hierarchy

[Music]

is a microcosm one of the most intense

expressions of Israeli apartheid in the

West Bank managing the occupation of

millions of people over more than five

decades is a vast and costly Enterprise

that relies on dominance and

intelligence gathering

according to one former General Israel

has become the world champions of

occupation turning it in his words into

an art form

surveillance is really the occupations

bread and butter in the mind of Israeli

military leadership Palestinians across

the West Bank and East Jerusalem present

a security threat to an expanding

settler movement and so to contain the

so-called security threat as they put it

the Army needs ever more advanced

surveillance Technologies to control a

population this is part and parcel of

the occupations tactics of control

the history of surveilling Palestinians

so as to control them goes back more

than 100 years to the days of British

rule Britain's Colonial project was

dependent on intensive surveillance and

intelligence gathering these documents

classified as very secret are from 1917

the year Britain first occupied

Palestine

they are handbooks on Palestinian

personalities produced by British

intelligence unit called the Arab Bureau

they were designed to give officials

insights on who is considered

intelligent pro-british or easily

susceptible to foreign influence

from 1920 onwards British mandate

authorities collected information on

every facet of Palestinian life

many of these strategies were adopted by

and in some cases taught to Jewish

paramilitary groups in Palestine like

the hagana

they determine you know how many men of

fighting age lived in each Town they'd

map out the topography so they could

inform their own battle strategy and

they created this vast index of all the

Palestinian Villages that was called The

Village files

The Village files were a comprehensive

survey of hundreds of Palestinian

villages in the 1940s produced by the

hagenah they included information on

mortar Village leaders on which

villagers were likely to resist and

those that were poorly defended

the hagana also conducted aerial

surveillance taking pictures they turned

into highly accurate battle maps and

they recruited Jewish operatives with

Middle Eastern features known as

mustaravim who were planted in Arab

towns and Villages as spies

these Colonial intelligence gathering

operations would prove instrumental in

the nakba the catastrophe in 1948 when

many of the villagers infiltrated were

destroyed and at least 750 000

Palestinians were expelled from their

homes

all of that kind of cataloging and

category

laid the foundation for Israel's own

establishment of a quite Colonial

bureaucracy in the Years immediately

following statehood you know this

entailed deploying police forces and

tapping into radio signals and tapping

into phone calls to then developing

newer technologies that could intercept

emails and text messages and then

spyware CCTV cameras Biometrics and so

at every step of the way you see

technology not only standing in for

these more analog practices but

intensifying them

the surveillance being conducted by the

Israeli military is only one half of the

story Palestinians know there are two

systems that watch over them

we have one for the soldiers

and one for the settlers the sitters who

are living here in Hebron they have

their own security camera system

it's not connected to the Army for me

settlers hasbower more than the military

itself usually the settlers give order

to the soldier not to the opposite at

this moment I felt that we are facing

settlers by ourselves

no one is here to protect us from those

people

throughout the occupied West Bank

illegal settlements dominate the

hilltops and some of the security

systems are operated by the settlers

themselves

we visited the highly severed tepour

Junction in the northern West Bank and

received a special welcome from the

Israeli military

I'm good thank you how are you foreign

areas like this it can be difficult to

tell which cameras belong to the

military and which are run by settlers

we know about the existence of settler

cameras at this Junction installed far

beyond the boundaries of the settlements

because of who funded them not the

Israeli state but an American

organization called the one Israel fund

the seller organizations have really

Deep Pockets predominantly in North

America so the one Israel fund is a

really good example of this they're an

organization that was set up in the 90s

to transfer money from the United States

to settlements in the West Bank

[Music]

just look at it we can go up with the

Drone see the whole area search down the

Terrace in the area and the one Israel

fund has recently you know sent drones

with infrared cameras that settlers will

use to monitor Palestinian Villages

there's reports of settler using those

drones to follow Farmers as they take

their flocks to eat and pasture and

scare away goats and totally disrupt

Palestinians own ability to make money

and make a living off of their livestock

recently the one Israel fund has sold

cameras to settlements that they're

putting up in highly trafficked

Junctions across the West Bank so the

fact that the settlements can put up

their own cameras far away from their

own jurisdiction and use that

information to bolster their own

security apparatus just demonstrates how

much the Israeli military is

collaborating with settlements and using

settlers as a way to really Outsource

the occupation to other forms of

policing that are subjected to even less

regulation and oversight than the

Israeli military is we asked the Israeli

military for an interview on their use

of surveillance in the occupied

territories but they declined they did

tell us however as part of the fight

against terrorism and the efforts to

improve the quality of life for the

Palestinian population the IDF conducts

routine security operations naturally we

cannot comment on the IDF operational

capabilities in this context

with the Israeli military unable or

unwilling to speak we got in touch with

a former Israeli General with experience

in the West Bank he spoke with us on the

condition that we hide his identity

to collect a lot of data you can

accurately control

human terrain you need a lot of Intel in

order to counter terrorism

and it enables you to do so while you

separate between the bad guys and the

majority of the population this is the

main rationale

and there is a lot of tension between

basic human rights or privacy and kind

of military occupation

definitely in some places like Hebron

there is a huge complexity

because of Jewish settlements that are

embedded in a Palestinian City

I'm glad you mentioned Hebron we saw

cameras there that look directly into

people's homes into their bedrooms these

are by Design Technologies of mass

surveillance they target everyone if

counter-terrorism is the rationale as

you put it that's certainly not how it's

actually being used it's more about

control of Palestinians is it not

actually I'm not

very so I cannot

I can know that but as an Israeli

citizen

I'm not satisfied with the situation

there there are a lot of human rights

violations because of this complex

situation but I can agree that from what

you describe it's also a question of

more police Law and Order and

controlling them than fighting terrorism

but it definitely helps with terrorism

as well

the Israeli military says AI driven

surveillance will deliver a frictionless

occupation one that is supposedly more

benign

however these experimental technologies

have also allowed Israel to covertly

deepen its control over Palestinians

entrenching a form of apartheid but

doing so invisibly

we often hear about how advanced Israeli

security systems and surveillance

Technologies are and how they'll deliver

a more Humane and frictionless

occupation but I think what falls out of

that narrative is the really invasive

and dehumanizing aspects of surveillance

that upend Palestinians life day after

day to feel as if your every movement

what you say on and offline and what

you're maybe even thinking is being

documented and monitored by an occupying

Army makes life quite unbearable under

occupation

on the second episode of this special

edition of the listening post how

spyware is being used to Target human

rights defendants allowing the

infiltrators to falsify evidence the

intention is to actually stop us from

channeling the information that we

document to different entities around

the world that could actually hold the

Israeli perpetrators accountable the

elite Israeli intelligence unit

responsible for spying on Palestinians

and blackmailing them into cooperation

you always look for weaknesses people

with psychological difficulties or trust

issues stuff like that obviously once

you get that you put the person at

Double the risk because now he's a

traitor

and Jerusalem

oh

where there is nowhere to hide for

Palestinians