Early in his writings, Elia Zureik connected Israeli surveillance of Palestinians as an extended conduct of settler colonialism and neoliberal apartheid, arguing that Israel’s Colonial Project in Palestine shows how central surveillance is to the maintenance of that project. More precisely, in his article in 2020: Settler Colonialism, Neoliberalism and Cyber Surveillance: The Case of Israel, he pointed out that the use of new technologies, especially the use of algorithmic predictions and biometrics, including facial recognition, has transformed Israel to a high-tech surveillance state, spreading fear among and tightening its control over the occupied Palestinian people.
Departing from the notion of “cyber surveillance” in relation to control and settler colonialism, and building on Elia’s work, I will address three main points in turn. First: The status of Palestinians under Israeli cyber surveillance and digital oppression. Second: The use of AI-enhanced facial recognition systems to track Palestinians, systematizing massive surveillance and automating harsh restrictions to their rights and freedoms as part of a structural settler colonial oppression. Third: The role of social media platforms in facilitating cyber surveillance and digital oppression. I will conclude with a brief examination of the legality of the deployment of these technologies under international law of occupation.
In this, the third blog post in our Palestine series, Mais Qandeel shares her contribution to the Surveillance Studies Network 2024 Conference plenary ‘Surveillance and Control in Israel/Palestine’, also honouring the influence of Elia Zureik (1939–2023).