I Went to Palestine's Most Surveilled City to Expose Israel's Wolfpack AI: What I Found Broke Me

[00:00:08] [music] [00:00:11] This is Hebron, known to Palestinians [00:00:13] [music] as the city of Al Khalil. [00:00:17] This is the West Bank's largest and most [00:00:19] populated city. [00:00:21] Hebron is dubbed by Israel as Hebron's [00:00:24] smart city, where the [music] apartheid [00:00:25] state tests its draconian surveillance [00:00:27] technology on the Palestinian population [00:00:30] as part of what is called the Wolfpack [00:00:32] surveillance system. [music] [00:00:35] This is a vast database that includes [00:00:37] all information about each and [music] [00:00:39] every single Palestinian, including [00:00:41] where they live, work, go to school, who [00:00:44] their family members are, and if they [00:00:46] are wanted for questioning. [00:00:49] >> [music] [00:00:49] >> Palestinians in Hebron are the most [00:00:51] surveiled people on the planet [00:00:53] >> and there is so wherever I go as [00:00:56] Palestinian I can see there's cameras [00:00:58] but those cameras it will never make me [00:01:00] innocent but something very important [00:01:03] what what make me [music] feel [00:01:04] uncomfortable while I'm crossing through [00:01:06] the checkpoint the soldier asked me to [00:01:09] look at the camera [00:01:12] >> Kaki is a Palestinian activist with [00:01:15] youth against settlements a nonviolent [00:01:17] direct action group that educates [00:01:19] Hebrron's youth on how to resist [00:01:20] occupation and apartheid through media [00:01:22] and advocacy work. During my visit here, [00:01:25] I was immediately struck by the dozens, [00:01:27] if not hundreds of cameras dotting each [00:01:29] street. [00:01:31] These cameras are installed by the [00:01:33] Israeli military on light posts and on [00:01:35] the rooftops and sides of buildings. [00:01:37] These are face scanning cameras called [00:01:39] Redwolf to help Israeli soldiers [00:01:41] identify Palestinians [music] at [00:01:43] checkpoints even before Palestinians [00:01:45] present their ID cards to cross through. [00:01:48] These cameras are also used to monitor [00:01:50] Palestinians movement in daily life. [00:01:52] Soldiers then use the Blue Wolf app [00:01:54] directly from their smartphones to [00:01:56] access the Wolfpack database on [00:01:58] Palestinians. [00:02:00] I was likely automatically enrolled in [00:02:03] the [music] Wolfpack surveillance [00:02:04] database by the face scanning cameras, [00:02:06] which scan people's faces without their [00:02:08] consent or knowledge. [music] When a [00:02:09] face scan enters the system, it is then [00:02:11] compared with biometric entries in the [00:02:13] database. And if you're new here like I [00:02:15] am, it enrolls you automatically. [00:02:18] Israeli soldiers have even reported that [00:02:20] these cameras can see inside people's [00:02:22] homes. [00:02:23] >> So, it's not that much easy for them [00:02:26] like to handle with all the difficulties [00:02:27] we are facing. and fence closure [00:02:31] checkpoint soldier cameras watchtowwer [00:02:35] everywhere [00:02:36] so many people like for me as [00:02:38] Palestinian while I'm living here I [00:02:40] cannot uh I cannot avoid from this kind [00:02:43] of thing I have to see it every day it's [00:02:46] in my daily life to see soldiers [00:02:48] settlers checkpoint [00:02:52] international and other human rights [00:02:54] organizations have extensively [00:02:56] documented Israel's mass surveillance [00:02:58] project under Wolfpack. In a new report [00:03:00] released by Amnesty last year, it [00:03:02] describes these heavily draconian and [00:03:04] militarized practices as automated [00:03:06] apartheid that further fragments, [00:03:08] segregates, and controls Palestinians. [00:03:11] This invasive surveillance technology [00:03:13] [music] that targets and monitors [00:03:14] Palestinians compounds an already [00:03:17] existing segregated system of apartheid [00:03:19] in Hebron, where the city has been split [00:03:21] into two zones, H1 and H2. [00:03:25] The two segments of Hebron are separated [00:03:27] by a militarized checkpoint that allows [00:03:30] for the [music] maintenance and [00:03:30] expansion of an illegal settler [00:03:32] settlement right in the middle of Telera [00:03:35] neighborhood that overlooks the [00:03:36] Palestinian city's market. This is where [00:03:39] Youth Against Settlements was born after [00:03:41] a Palestinian building that was [00:03:43] initially occupied first by the Israeli [00:03:45] military and then later by Israeli [00:03:47] settlers. It was reclaimed for [00:03:49] Palestinian use through a nonviolent [00:03:51] direct action and legal campaign. But [00:03:54] right now we are talking about more than [00:03:56] 1,800 [music] Palestinian shops are [00:03:58] closed. More than 1,000 Palestinian [00:04:01] apartment are empty. If you ask me why [00:04:04] all these shops are closed, why all [00:04:05] these houses are empty? Because we I [00:04:07] don't have access to it as Palestinian. [00:04:10] It make me feel so sad as Palestinian [00:04:12] like to see people came from the other [00:04:14] part of the world and they can go [00:04:15] wherever they want in my city. [00:04:18] Just feet away from the bustling [00:04:19] shopping market in Hebron is the heavily [00:04:21] equipped Israeli checkpoint 56 [music] [00:04:24] where over 25 audiovisisual surveillance [00:04:26] devices and sensors are installed. This [00:04:29] is where Palestinians must cross [music] [00:04:31] through from the Telera neighborhood to [00:04:33] get their daily essentials and do their [00:04:35] shopping from the market. It's also [00:04:37] where residents must cross through to [00:04:38] get to work, go to school, to seek [00:04:40] health care or visit family. [00:04:44] Teler Ma is a small Palestinian [00:04:47] neighborhood in Hebron that is now home [00:04:48] to over 700 illegal Israeli settlers [00:04:52] that began squatting here in 1984. These [00:04:55] extremist settlers are heavily armed and [00:04:57] walk around the neighborhood bearing [00:04:58] their rifles. Whereas it's illegal for [00:05:01] Palestinians to even own a gun. [00:05:04] The main street running through the [00:05:05] Taler Mida neighborhood is called Shaha [00:05:07] Street or translated from Arabic into [00:05:09] English as Martyr's Street that the [00:05:12] Israeli government has now renamed to [00:05:13] Chicago Street in its attempt to erase [00:05:16] Palestinian roots to the land. A [00:05:18] textbook example of settler colonialism. [00:05:22] [music] [00:05:23] Walking through Shahara Street felt like [00:05:25] we were walking through a ghost town. [00:05:28] [music] [00:05:30] It's ghost town. And something very [00:05:32] important you have to know. I'm not [00:05:34] happy to see them change my city in [00:05:36] front of my eyes. They change [00:05:38] everything. Even the name of the street, [00:05:40] the name of the neighborhood from [00:05:41] Palestinian Arabic [music] name into [00:05:43] Israeli settller's name. Shahada Street. [00:05:46] As I told you, it used to be the heart [00:05:47] of the city. [00:05:48] >> Each year, Azat and his colleagues with [00:05:50] youth against settlements hold an annual [00:05:52] march called Open Shada [music] Street [00:05:54] campaign that draws international [00:05:56] attention to the illegal siege of the [00:05:58] city. [00:06:00] Not only has Israel occupied and [00:06:02] fragmented this neighborhood to make [00:06:04] room for the Israeli settlers, but it's [00:06:06] also altering this area to Judaize the [00:06:08] [music] entire quarter, meaning planning [00:06:10] to expand its colonization of the area [00:06:13] to ethnically cleanse and displace [00:06:15] Palestinians out of here so Israeli [00:06:17] settlers can take over. [00:06:20] This military strategy is used to [00:06:22] protect, [music] expand, and connect [00:06:24] other Jewish settlements nearby in [00:06:26] Israel's quest to ensure an ethno Jewish [00:06:29] state. [00:06:30] So most of the Palestinian [music] who [00:06:32] are living here they have to stop or [00:06:33] they have to park their car outside of [00:06:35] the checkpoint and they have [music] [00:06:37] they have to come here and walk which is [00:06:40] something like you know difficult. So [00:06:42] there's some like there's some members [00:06:44] of the families they have to go to the [00:06:47] center of Hebron and come back 10 times [00:06:49] [music] [00:06:50] or five times building. [00:06:52] >> Barbed wire covers Palestinian homes [00:06:55] that are fenced here to protect them [00:06:56] from Israeli settler attacks and [00:06:58] harassment. [00:07:00] Hebron has seen some of the most violent [00:07:02] settler [music] assaults against [00:07:04] Palestinians, especially after Hamas's [00:07:06] surprise attack and Israel's assault on [00:07:08] Gaza. [00:07:10] In many cases, the armed settlers are [00:07:12] escorted and protected by Israeli [00:07:14] soldiers. Settlers regularly harass [00:07:16] Palestinians throwing garbage, rocks, [00:07:18] and glass bottles at their homes. [00:07:21] But the intimidation doesn't end there. [00:07:24] An AI smart shooter sits at top of this [00:07:26] checkpoint on Shua Street, pointing [00:07:28] directly at Hebrron's [music] [00:07:30] marketplace, where thousands of [00:07:31] Palestinians pass by each day. Israel [00:07:34] installed the remotec controlled and [00:07:35] automatic Tourett gun shooter in 2022. [00:07:40] According to Israel's army spokesperson, [00:07:42] the AI smart shooter is used as a [00:07:44] dispersal measure as part of the army's [00:07:47] improved preparations for confronting [00:07:49] people disrupting order. [music] [00:07:53] So there is hundred of family they use [00:07:56] this checkpoint like to reach their [00:07:58] house while they have this kind of [00:08:01] shooter or smart shooter on them it [00:08:04] doesn't make it doesn't make them feel [00:08:06] safe because at any point it could kill [00:08:09] someone like we know by by accident as [00:08:12] they as they as they say. [00:08:15] But the smart shooter only adds to an [00:08:17] already heavily militarized Israeli [00:08:19] presence in the middle of the most [00:08:20] populated Palestinian city where nearly [00:08:23] 40,000 residents reside. Passing through [00:08:25] this checkpoint was intimidating and a [00:08:27] very [music] terrifying experience that [00:08:29] left me, a Palestinian American visitor, [00:08:31] shaking. [00:08:33] As for Palestinians who must cross [00:08:35] through here everyday, the AI Smart [00:08:37] Shooter has left residents feeling [00:08:39] anxious to walk through their own [00:08:40] neighborhoods. [00:08:43] Since 2019, the Israeli military has [00:08:46] been expanding its surveillance [music] [00:08:47] tech to monitor Palestinians. But it's [00:08:50] in Hebron where the Israeli military [00:08:52] tests its latest facial recognition [00:08:54] technology before selling it on the [00:08:56] international market and using [music] [00:08:57] it in Gaza. [00:08:59] Just as Gaza has become a laboratory and [00:09:02] showroom for Israel's battle tested [00:09:04] weapons, the success of the Hebrron [00:09:06] smart city facial recognition technology [00:09:09] and database through Wolfpack to [music] [00:09:10] track Palestinians will be used for [00:09:12] Israel to continue to profit off of its [00:09:15] illegal military occupation of Palestine [00:09:17] [music] and surveillance of Palestinian [00:09:19] civilians. [00:09:21] This automated apartheid only further [00:09:23] establishes segregation of Palestinians [00:09:25] [music] [00:09:26] and expands Israel's apartheid system [00:09:28] and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.