On 24 October, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz accused six Palestinian NGOs of being terrorist organizations.
This is Al Haq, the most authoritative Palestinian association for human rights, founded forty years ago by the lawyer Raja Shehadeh, to whom the New York Review of Books gives the floor in a long article this week; Adameer, who assists Palestinian political prisoners by documenting cases of torture; and then Defense for children international-Palestine, Union of agricultural workers, Bisan center for research and development and Union of Palestinian women committees, which deal with the protection of children, agriculture in the West Bank and women’s rights.
All are accused of having secret links with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. The minister, however, did not provide evidence to support the accusation, because it would be “confidential information”.
The reactions
The decision was unanimously condemned by the main international human rights organizations: Amnesty international and Human rights watch wrote in a joint statement that the decision sanctions “the ten-year failure of the international community to challenge the serious violations of Israeli human rights and in imposing significant consequences. This encourages the Israeli authorities to act in this brazen way ”.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, recalled that NGOs “are among the most respected humanitarian and human rights organizations active in the occupied Palestinian territories and have worked with the United Nations for decades”.
Faced with the absurdity of the decision, the six organizations showed no surprise. In a web conference Shawan Jarbari, general manager of Al Haq, explained: “We have been receiving threats for decades, and we are hindered in our work in every way”. This move is therefore to be considered as “confirmation that our work is having a strong impact”. A demonstration, according to Jarbari, “of the importance of facts”.
The investigation of the International Criminal Court
According to Jarbari, the facts that help to understand the timing of this decision by the Israeli government are to be found in Al Haq’s collaboration with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which last year decided to extend its jurisdiction to Israel and the Territories. busy.
The Palestinian organization is gathering evidence for court investigations, which document potential war crimes committed by Israel during the 2014 Gaza war and were transferred to the Hague court on 20 September 2021. In 2014, Benny Gantz was commander in head of the Israeli army and as such – if the evidence gathered by Al Haq were sufficient – could be accused of war crimes by the CPI.
Similarly, Defense for children represents Palestinian children victims of war at the ICC and in March 2020 presented evidence for the investigation. It also helped collect documents that were used in drafting several laws presented to the US Congress, such as HR 2590, which aims to prevent Israeli authorities from using American funds to demolish Palestinian homes or detain minors.
The persecution of these organizations could thus confirm the importance of international justice, as Israel is showing fear of it.
For part of the Israeli opposition, as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz explains in an editorial on 24 October, the decision constitutes “a stain on Israel”. By erasing the “distinction between legitimate and illegitimate struggle”, it gives a deleterious sign to the younger Palestinian generations: if it accuses those who have chosen the peaceful struggle and for justice of terrorism, there is in fact no other non-violent way to contest the violations of occupation. The decision could also affect Israeli human rights organizations that defend Palestinian rights and have been collaborating with these NGOs for years.
Last test for Biden and the EU
Internationally, this decision represents an important test for the Biden administration, on the one hand, and for the European Union’s foreign policy, on the other.
US President Joe Biden has focused his election campaign on America’s return to human rights, promising that “they will be at the center of foreign policy”. The State Department also said, early in the first semester of its presidency, that the United States is “committed to securing a world where human rights will be protected, their defenders celebrated, and those who commit human rights violations held accountable.” .
The defense of these Palestinian organizations is an important element in understanding whether Biden will actually change Donald Trump’s policy.
The countries of the European Union that fund the six human rights organizations have been under severe pressure for decades. In May 2021, the Netherlands and Belgium received dossiers from Shin bet, the Israeli secret services, which accused the organizations. Both countries were very clear in their response. Belgian Minister for Cooperation and Development, Meryame Kitir, said during a parliamentary question on July 14, 2021 that the evidence presented was not enough.
Former Dutch foreign minister Sigrid Kaag, whose country funds three of the six organizations, also confirmed that the elements provided by Israel had been examined by the foreign ministry and found “no concrete evidence of links between these organizations and the ‘Fplp “.
According to an investigation conducted by the +972 website and The Intercept, which had access to the Shin bet files, the accusations are the result of the interrogations of two Palestinian accountants who have never worked with these organizations and therefore cannot be trusted. .
Faced with the refusal of European countries to suspend their funding, Gantz would thus have declared the “terrorist” organizations to permanently block them, given that the PFLP is also on the list of terrorist organizations of European countries.
On November 8, the Israeli decision was extended not only to Israeli territory but also to the West Bank: this means that NGO employees are in danger and risk arrest.
To all this is added the news, revealed on the same day by the Washington Post and the Israeli association Breaking the silence, that for two years the Israeli army has been conducting a surveillance program in the occupied West Bank to monitor Palestinian activists and human rights defenders using facial recognition and a network of cameras and smartphones. Faced with these grave human rights violations, the European Union will have to do more than make lukewarm statements about its support for the “peace and trust efforts between Israelis and Palestinians”.
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