Israeli surveillance program in Palestine took novel shapes in past years. Tel Aviv also used the program far beyond the Palestinian lands.
No long time ago, the use of mass surveillance by American National Security Agency made controversies in the US society. The discovery revived the debate about political misbehavior and violations of privacy protections.
As with Israel, on the other hand, harsh condemnation was the case in the past decade for various reasons. Ranging from illegal espionage on Palestinian people and groups to developing many of the espionage devices, apps and technologies, Israel has a beg profile in such allegations.
While spying scandals instigated much disputes eight years ago, Israel managed to keep itself outside the controversy. Nevertheless, Tel Aviv, maybe more than many of other actors in the field, employs systemic segregation and surveillance programs. Besides, the country utilizes loads of other espionage measures to maintain its military rule.
More than 2 millions of people reside in Gaza in cut-off condition as with the rest of the world. Fences, electric barriers, subterranean obstacles, navy warships, and a swarm of shooters envelop city. Israeli surveillance drones keep an incessant eye on and film every detail, private or public, from overhead. These military drones are also employed to kill anything that Israel considers to be a threat.
Furthermore, every resident who wishes to go out/in the Gaza is subject to the harshest “security” measures. This includes several Bureaucratic processes and interminable IDF inspections. This is true for infants as well as a seriously ill people seeking care that is not in access within the city.
Security project in the West Bank is by no means better for the residents. In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the goal is to implement Israeli surveillance on Palestinian people’s daily lives.
Israeli Surveillance; Modern Approaches Crossing Borders
With the advent of more professional technologies and expansion of social media, surveillance and espionage took new forms too. Israeli surveillance mission used to focus inside Palestine, but the new developments tempted Tel Aviv to stretch its hands.
A recent Washington Post report reveals new dimensions if Israeli surveillance mission. The program, according to the report, employs the “Blue Wolf” tech to compile a bulk base on the entire Palestinian population. This new technology involves troops to utilize their personal cameras to photograph as many People as possible. The resulting data joins a corpus and provides a massive database that forms “the army’s secret ‘Facebook for Palestinians.'”
The current information about this corpus and its functioning is trivial and non-inclusive. The database, by the way, is so important for Tel Aviv that soldiers with the highest involvement in project receive incentives, the nature of which is unknown.
The “Blue Wolf” project has attracted considerable attention recently, but Palestinian people are familiar with it. Living in Palestine means carrying multiple permission and digital tokens, obtaining innumerable “security” certifications, taking obligatory photos regularly, movement observation, and interrogation over the most personal affairs. Unmanned drones complete the process from every side, lest something escape Israeli surveillance.
“Blue Wolf” attracted attention due to a more serious Israeli espionage scandal. Pegasus is virus-like app that monitors smartphones in order to extract images, texts, documents, as well as tape voice calls. This program has affected tens of thousands of people globally, among whom are famous campaigners, researchers, authorities, and commercial executives.
Israeli NSO has developed Pegasus raising the questions about Tel Aviv’s role. The new revelations about “Facebook for Palestinians” reveals new dimension of the novel Israeli surveillance program. Israel steps outside the borders using technologies to make a larger blockade.
