12 dec. Amsterdam: Violations of Palestinians’ (Digital) Human Rights

On December 12, FFIPP Netherlands will host an evening on different strategies of oppression that are employed by the Israeli intelligence and security forces against Palestinians.

The event takes place at the Cinema of the Dam’d (Overtoom 301, Amsterdam) from 7 until 9 pm.

The evening starts with a screening of the documentary film , which combines stop motion animation and interviews to tell the absurd story of the Israeli army’s pursuit of 18 cows deemed a security threat in the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour.

The film is followed by a talk by , who will discuss the violation of Palestinians’ digital human rights and the occupation of the Palestinian digital space as yet another strategy of oppression. There will be sufficient room for questions and debate at the end.

The wanted 18 is a film by Amer Shomali and Paul Cowan (2014, 75 min.) and narrates the absurd true story of the Israeli army’s pursuit of 18 cows in the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour. The film is a combination of stop motion animation and interviews. It sheds light on a collective of residents from Beit Sahour who, amidst the first Intifada in the late 1980s, decided to purchase 18 cows from an Israeli kibbutz in order to become more self-sufficient by not having to buy Israeli dairy products. The group of cows, however, was declared a “threat to the national security of the state of Israel”, forcing the Palestinian owners to find ways to hide the cows from the authorities.

Sobhi Khatib is a Palestinian human rights defender and political activist who is currently based in Amsterdam and works on the crossroads of digital technology and human rights. He will provide a talk on digital human rights violations of Palestinians and the occupation of the Palestinian digital space as one of many strategies of oppression.