Israel outlaws Palestinian rights groups, alleging terrorism

JERUSALEM – Israel connected Friday efficaciously outlawed six salient Palestinian quality rights groups by declaring them violent organizations, a large escalation of its decades-long crackdown connected governmental activism successful the occupied territories.

The declaration appeared to pave the mode for Israel to raid their offices, prehend assets, apprehension unit and criminalize immoderate nationalist expressions of enactment for the groups. Most of the targeted organizations papers alleged quality rights violations by Israel arsenic good arsenic the Palestinian Authority, some of which routinely detain Palestinian activists.

Israeli and planetary rights groups condemned the determination arsenic an battle connected civilian nine and expressed solidarity with the targeted organizations. Many noted that Israel already outlaws adjacent peaceful governmental activities successful the occupied West Bank. Palestinians privation the territory — which Israel captured successful the 1967 warfare — to signifier the main portion of their aboriginal state.

Ad

The designated groups are Al-Haq, a quality rights radical founded successful 1979, arsenic good arsenic the Addameer rights group, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said they are secretly linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a secular, left-wing question with a governmental enactment arsenic good arsenic an equipped helping that has carried retired deadly attacks against Israelis. Israel and Western countries see the PFLP a violent organization.

The ministry’s connection was released during the Israeli and Palestinian weekend. Representatives from the targeted organizations could not instantly beryllium reached for comment.

The Defense Ministry said the organizations are “controlled by elder leaders” of the PFLP and employment its members, including immoderate who person “participated successful panic activity.”

Ad

It said the groups service arsenic a “central source” of financing for the PFLP and had received “large sums of wealth from European countries and planetary organizations," without elaborating.

Israel has agelong accused quality rights groups and planetary bodies of being biased against it and of singling it retired portion ignoring graver violations by different countries.

The European Union delegation to the Palestinian territories acknowledged financing activities by immoderate of the groups. It said past allegations of the misuse of EU funds by partners “have not been substantiated" but that it takes the substance earnestly and is looking into it.

“EU backing to Palestinian civilian nine organizations is an important constituent of our enactment for the 2 authorities solution,” it said.

The section bureau of the U.N. precocious commissioner for quality rights said that successful making the declaration, Israel had listed “extremely vague oregon irrelevant reasons, including wholly peaceful and morganatic activities.”

Ad

It called connected Israel to “fully respect the rights to state of relation and expression, without immoderate interference oregon harassment against the organizations oregon their staff,” adding that it considers immoderate of the Palestinian organizations to beryllium “key partners.”

The U.S. State Department said it would question much accusation from Israel connected the designation and had not been fixed beforehand informing astir it.

“We judge respect for quality rights, cardinal freedoms, and a beardown civilian nine are critically important to liable and responsive governance," spokesperson Ned Price told reporters successful Washington.

The Palestinian Authority, which has precocious cracked down connected its ain critics, condemned what it said was a “strategic battle connected Palestinian civilian nine and the Palestinian people’s cardinal close to reason Israel’s amerciable concern and exposure its continuing crimes."

Ad

New York-based Human Rights Watch and London-based Amnesty International released a associated connection condemning the determination arsenic an “attack by the Israeli authorities connected the planetary quality rights movement."

“For decades, Israeli authorities person systematically sought to muzzle quality rights monitoring and punish those who knock its repressive regularisation implicit Palestinians,” they said. “This determination is an alarming escalation that threatens to unopen down the enactment of Palestine’s astir salient civilian nine organizations.”

The Israeli quality rights radical B'Tselem called the government's declaration “an enactment diagnostic of totalitarian regimes, with the wide intent of shutting down these organizations."

“B’Tselem stands successful solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues, is arrogant of our associated enactment implicit the years – and is steadfast to proceed so.”

—

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.