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Palestinian students supporting Hamas at an election campaign rally at Bir Zeit University, near the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, on April 26, 2016 (image for illustration). Abbas Momani / AFP

The Palestinian Authority continues its crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank. For almost a week, Hamas-affiliated students have been forced to sleep on the campus of their Bir Zeit University in the West Bank for fear of being arrested, not by the Israeli army, but by the security services of the Authority Palestinian. Reportage.

With our special correspondent at Bir Zeit, Marine Vlahovic

Mattresses and books are stacked under an archway at Bir Zeit University. It is here that students from the Hamas-affiliated Islamic Bloc trade union are forced to camp, Mohammed Hassan explains.

" We can be stopped at any time, we stay here to be safe. They want to stop us for political reasons because of our university activities and because we have different opinions. "

"They", it is the intelligence services of the Palestinian Authority who have detained one of their comrades and despite his recent release, the students are determined to stay. " It does not change anything, we got no guarantee, " says Mohammed Hassan.

The phenomenon is not new, but this authoritarian lure is part of a broader movement of repression of dissenting voices in the West Bank, said Sameh Abu Awad of the union employees of the University.

" We are not allowed to talk about corruption, we can not express our political views and we can not criticize the leaders of the Palestinian Authority. "

Last week the Palestinian Authority decided to block 59 websites and news pages.

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