Israel’s raids on Palestinian NGOs

JVL does not routinely comment on Israel’s frequent abuses but the 18 August raids on seven Palestinian NGOs which campaign for Palestinian human rights demand particular attention.

In October 2021 Israel unilaterally designated six organisations Al-Haq; Addameer; Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIPS); the Bisan Center for Research and Development; the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees; and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, as ‘terrorist organisations’, on the basis of alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Israel had earlier outlawed The Union of Health Committees

Israel pressed states worldwide to cut off funding for the work of these groups. However, when asked to provide evidence to support these allegations, they failed to provide any that satisfied even the most pro-Israel European countries.* Even the US State Department spokesperson said: “We’ve made it very clear to our Israeli government and Palestinian Authority interlocutors that independent civil society organisations in the West Bank and in Israel must be able to continue their important work,” He said they “valued” the monitoring of human rights violations in Gaza, the West Bank, in Israel and elsewhere. The EU resumed its funding to Al Haq in June.

Israel’s actions are widely seen as a frantic attempt to undermine the ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court into its multiple violations of International Law, as well as a vindictive response to the contribution of Al Haq and others to the establishment of the investigation.

JVL calls on the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, to condemn the actions of the Israeli Government and to insist they unseal the offices of these organisations and return immediately any seized property. We further call for the UK Government to provide emergency funding to the seven organisations to replace the funding they have lost from regular charitable and state funders who have been intimidated into halting payments. These actions will both enable the organisations to pursue their invaluable work, which has been severely impacted by these unsubstantiated allegations and will also help restore their unjustly maligned reputations.

JVL calls on Keir Starmer and Lisa Nandy to add their voices to these demands.

JVL requests its supporters to sign the open letter to the Foreign Office circulated by PSC.

* In July 2022 Haaretz reported that nine European countries issued a joint statement on Tuesday [12 July] saying they will continue working with six Palestinian organizations that Israel outlawed last year because Israel had failed to prove its claim that they should be considered terrorist organizations.

The nine countries are Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Holland, Spain and Sweden.

“No substantial information was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards the six Palestinian NGOs,” the statement by the countries’ foreign ministries said.

“Should evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly,” they added.

“In the absence of such evidence, we will continue our cooperation and strong support for the civil society in the OPT,” the statement said, referring to the Palestinian territories.

The statement also emphasized that “A free and strong civil society is indispensable for promoting democratic values and for the two-state solution.”