The French newspaper "Liberation" published a report highlighting the new method adopted by the Israeli occupation to monitor the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The newspaper said in its report, translated by "Arabi 21", that the American "Washington Post" revealed the existence of a database fed by images taken by soldiers. The Israelis joined the Palestinians in the West Bank, which sparked a wave of anger on the Palestinian side. When wandering the streets of the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, a soldier might approach you and ask you to take a picture without giving you the option to refuse. Once the photo is taken, there are two possibilities: either you are not registered in their database, in which case you are added; Or you are there, and his smartphone shows a green signal, meaning you can continue your way. If yellow appears, you will be referred for investigation, and if red appears, you will be arrested. This is not an episode of the series "Black Mirror", but The new system dedicated to monitoring and tracking Palestinians, which was revealed by the Washington Post.Abusive way of collecting photosThis program, called "Blue Wolf", has been adopted over the past two years in the Palestinian territories, specifically in places where tension is high, especially the city of Hebron .
Read also: The occupation signs a military order to prosecute 6 human rights institutions in the West Bank This application is used on smartphones, and it is linked to a database that contains personal files of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank with a large number of information: family history, educational qualifications, photos, and the security code associated with the person’s identity In this context, the Israeli organization "Breaking the Silence", founded by former soldiers in the Israeli army, published two testimonies of two soldiers who used this program. One says: “I can scan a person’s face or the barcode on their card using a built-in chip. From this base, I can retrieve the information in a very simple way. Previously, verification procedures took at least twenty minutes. But with the blue wolf technology I can easily I know if there are any restrictions and permits.” The Israeli army claims that this application facilitates the daily life of the Palestinians, because it makes relations with soldiers smoother. But on the ground, photos are taken arbitrarily - as the newspaper says -, as it is enough to meet face to face With an Israeli soldier, until your photo enters the database, and the most dangerous thing is the competition between soldiers to take the largest number of photos of the Palestinians. A database without any legal framework . If the light turns red, the Israeli soldier arrests the Palestinian without having any idea why. Ori Givati of Breaking the Silence says: “Sometimes the motives may be legitimate, but we can't be sure! This is part of the problem because the information is confidential.” For her part, attorney Roni Bailey, president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, says: “There is no regulation, no legal framework, no oversight for the use of these technologies. We learned about this device through foreign newspapers, because the government refuses to testify. The newspaper confirms that there is another application similar to the "blue wolf", which is the "white wolf" application, which is used by settlers, especially settlement security coordinators, and enables them to verify the identity of Palestinians before entering any Israeli settlement. Givati asserts that "this technology gives Israeli civilians the ability to monitor and control the Palestinians." High-end cameras The newspaper pointed out that the "blue wolf" is not the only high-tech system used to monitor Palestinians. In October 2020, the Israel Hayom daily reported that a network of hundreds of ultra-high-end cameras, dubbed “Smart City of Hebron,” has been installed.
Read also: Occupation: West Bank camps are “lava” that could erupt at any moment These cameras capture real-time footage, and are able to identify any unusual behavior, and are described as a step forward in the war against terrorism. “These two devices belong to To the same strategy of monitoring and controlling the Palestinians, while not respecting their privacy. Palestinian activist Issa Amro, co-founder of the “Youth Against Settlements” association, which documents Israeli army violations in Hebron, told Liberation, “The cameras have never recorded violence by settlers or soldiers against Palestinians. They are only used to monitor Palestinians. We We don't feel safe at all."