The Palestinian Authority’s crackdown on protest shows it will never serve its own people | Yara Hawari

Palestinians are being repressed and brutalised by their own government in collaboration with the Israeli state

• Yara Hawari is a senior policy fellow at Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network

On 24 June, Nizar Banat, a longtime activist and outspoken critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA), was reportedly arrested and beaten outside his cousin's home in Hebron by the authority's security forces - he died in custody shortly after. In regular videos recorded and posted to his social media accounts, Banat often took the Palestinian Authority to task for its corruption, lack of democratic practice and collaboration with Israel. A few days prior to his death, he had uploaded a video in which he accused the authority of selling out the Palestinian struggle.

Related: Nizar Banat's death highlights brutality of Palestinian Authority