Int’l bodies condemn Israeli attack on Palestinians NGOs

It comes after Israeli forces stormed, searched, and sealed the headquarters of seven human rights organizations in Ramallah and the outskirt town of al-Bireh, marking a major escalation against the advocacy groups.

The organizations raided by the occupation forces include Al-Haq, Addameer, the Bisan Center for Research & Development, Defense for Children International Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Union of Health Work Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women.

Shawan Jabarin, director of al-Haq, said he and his staffers were still checking whether any documents were confiscated by the regime forces.

Israeli troops “came, blew up the door, got inside, and messed with the files,” he was quoted as saying by AP, adding that they sealed the entrance to the office after that.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees circulated a video showing troops in full battle gear searching their office and ransacking equipment.

In October last year, the Israeli regime issued a military order declaring the seven Palestinian human rights groups as “terrorist organizations,” accusing the groups of links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and funneling donor aid to Palestinian resistance fighters.

The groups have strongly denied the claims.

Last month, nine European Union states rejected the Israeli regime’s terrorist designation of the Palestinian civil society groups, citing a lack of evidence, and saying they would continue their cooperation and strong support for the organizations.

The United Nations said Thursday that Israeli raids on the offices of seven Palestinian human rights organizations in the West Bank “cannot be taken lightly,” and called for the protection of civil society groups.

Farhan Haq, a deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general, said the world body was “studying” the Israeli raids and that it had expressed concern last year after Israel’s designation of the groups as terror organizations.

“It needs to be underscored, in every country, that the authorities need to take particular care to make sure that human rights groups and civil society organizations can go about their work without hindrance,” Haq noted
The UN spokesperson further said that the international body would look at charges that prompted the Israeli actions against the Palestinian groups.

“Those are actions that cannot be taken lightly, so it would take quite a bit to convince us of what was at issue,” Haq said. “It remains to be seen what the details are behind these charges.”

“The main thing that needs to be done is to make sure that there’s no targeting of groups for their human rights work,” he said.

The UN Human Rights Office also said the closures “appear totally arbitrary,” and that Israel had provided no evidence to support claims the organizations conducted unlawful activities.

“Human rights defenders must be immediately protected from these unjustified attacks,” the office said.

In a statement on Thursday, the United Nations agencies and the Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) working in the occupied Palestinian territories called on the Israeli regime to allow Palestinian human rights and humanitarian organizations to continue their work.

The UN agencies and AIDA said the attempted closures of these organization offices represent the latest in a series of actions by Israel that limit the ability of human rights, humanitarian, and development work in the occupied territories and affect all institutions working to promote human rights and development.

“We urge…Israel to refrain from any action that would prevent these organizations from continuing their critical human rights, humanitarian and development work in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the statement said.

The UN agencies and AIDA stressed that the Israeli authorities had provided no compelling evidence to justify the “terrorist” designations of the Palestinian organizations.

In a press statement cited by Palestine's official Wafa news agency on Thursday, Amnesty International called for an end to the stifling of Palestinian civil society organizations at the hands of Israeli occupation authorities.

“The Israeli occupation authorities must end their campaign of repression against Palestinian civil society and let organizations carry out their work free from harassment,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“These organizations have contributed enormously to human rights in the OPT and across the globe, yet Israeli army boots trample all over their work," Guellali added, urging all governments to condemn the Israeli army’s attack on Palestinian civil society.

She said the international community "needs to work together not only to reopen the offices of these seven organizations, but also to honor their calls to support the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the Palestine situation and for international condemnation of Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.”

Amnesty International also said it had spoken to partners at three of the seven raided organizations, which conveyed their shock at the attacks and closures.
“The occupying army has failed to silence our voice in defense of human rights. The army uses military law against human rights law," Khaled Quzmar, director of DCI-Palestine, was quoted as saying by Amnesty International.

"The raids show that Israel rejects the position of the EU and the international community, and rather invests in continuing the occupation and the human rights violations that it causes."

European diplomats met with Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations (CSOs), whose offices had been targeted by Israeli forces in Ramallah, and rejected Israeli allegations of misuse of EU funds.

The diplomats said that "past allegations of misuse of EU funds in relation to certain Palestinian CSOs have not been substantiated" after months of investigations into the Israeli allegations.

“The EU will continue to stand by international law and support CSOs that have a role to play in promoting international law, human rights, and democratic values,” they said in a statement.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly censured Israel's unlawful military raid on the offices of Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations in Ramallah and Al Bireh.

The ministry said in a statement that the Israeli occupation forces looted documents, seized equipment, and sealed off offices “in another clear attempt to repress and intimidate those documenting and pursuing accountability for Israeli crimes.”

'As Israel's illegal occupation and apartheid regime become further entrenched, Palestinian civil society and human rights defenders will continue to be among the prime targets as they play a key role in monitoring and documenting Israel's crimes and violations against the Palestinian people," it warned.

The ministry further said documentation, advocacy, humanitarian aid and legal work are the "hallmarks of democracy and essential for the protection of human rights worldwide", adding that the work of human rights defenders must be protected.

“Absence of political will to hold Israel accountable for its decades of crimes and violations enables its continued war against the international human rights movement," the statement said.

"Israel's attempts to dominate Palestinian civil society, control their functioning, and by extension disrupt the fabric of the Palestinian, society is a political decision aimed to protect Israel's officials from accountability,” it added reiterating “its full support for our civil society and commend their determination to uphold the rule of law undeterred by Israel's lawlessness and intimidation.”