Home » The banning of six Palestinian NGOs has become a case in Israel

The banning of six Palestinian NGOs has become a case in Israel

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Tel Aviv – A swarm of convictions, nationally and internationally, has risen in reaction to the decision by the Israeli ministries of defense and justice to place six Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) on the blacklist of terrorist organizations for their alleged ties to the Front Popular for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist party recognized as a terrorist group also by the United States and the European Union.

Addameer, Al Haq, Bisan Center, the Palestinian branch of the International Committee for the Defense of Children (DCI-P), the Union of Agricultural Works Committees (UAWC) and the Union of Palestinian Committees for Women (UPWC) – are the six organizations targeted by the decree issued on Friday by the Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. According to the ministry, NGOs would have been a “central source” of funding for the PFLP, receiving large sums from European states and international organizations.

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The US State Department, answering a reporter’s question on Friday, said it had not been informed in advance by the Israeli government about the decision, for which it will demand “more information on the elements behind these designations”, underlining the importance for “respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and a strong civil society”. Words that have been interpreted in Israel as a first criticism of the new Bennett government by the Biden administration. The Israeli Defense Ministry was quick to reply that it had provided the evidence behind the designations to the American counterpart, alluding to a lack of internal communication between the Pentagon and the US State Department.

Following an investigation conducted between March and May by the Shabak (the internal intelligence operating in the Palestinian Territories) and the Unit for Combating Terrorism, the Israelis have also provided European counterparts with evidence in recent months that would show that the organizations in question are involved in fundraising and laundering operations for the PFLP, in the recruitment of activists and in the payment of salaries to convicted terrorist families. Specifically, members of the UAWC NGO – Samer Arbid and Razak Praj – and the Bisan research center – Ataraf Rimawi – were arrested and sentenced last year as members of the terrorist cell affiliated with the PFLP, responsible for the killing of 17-year-old Rina. Shnerb in August 2019. In 2018, the Arab Bank had stopped bank transfers in favor of the NGO DCI-P due to the links of some members of the association with the PFLP.

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However, the Ministry of Defense has not made public the detailed documentation underlying the designations, calling it “classified material” which will be forwarded to the relevant authorities. A reason that aroused dismay even within the government cabinet itself. Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz and Environment Minister Tamar Zandberg, both members of the left-wing Meretz party, asked Gantz to clarify the decision – Zandberg called it an “earthquake”.

Protests from associations and dialogue with the NPC

Gantz’s announcement shocked the world of civil activism, as the NGOs in question are considered to be among the most active and esteemed associations of Palestinian civil society. In particular, the historian Al Haq has been active since the 1970s in denouncing human rights violations not only by the Israelis, but also by the Palestinian Authority (PNA). “This is a shocking and unjust decision, an attack by the Israeli government on the international human rights movement,” said Human Rights Watch, which confirms that “it is proud to work with our Palestinian partners, who represent the best of civil society. global and to which we will not lack our support even following this outrageous decision “. Even in the world of Israeli activism there is a stand against the minister’s decision, seen as a “punitive move” aimed at silencing voices critical of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories, since these are particularly active NGOs in the movement to boycott the Jewish state and in the documentation of Israeli violations underlying the investigation by the International Criminal Court in The Hague opened against Israel this year.

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“This is a very serious precedent, an arbitrary and illegal decision to silence us and make us give up in our battle”, he tells Republic Shawan Jabareen, the director of Al Haq. According to the Israeli Supreme Court, Jabareen is a member of the PFLP, charges he calls “lies”. The well-known Israeli NGO B’tselem also confirms a Republic that it will continue to collaborate with its Palestinian counterparts, calling the decision “draconian, a form of intimidation like in the worst totalitarian regimes”.

“The civil activity of these organizations is real, but it is only part of reality,” said General Yossi Kuperwasser, former director general of the Ministry for Strategic Affairs, who has followed the affair closely over the years. “Much of the information underlying the designation had always been known to Israeli civilian organizations, but they preferred to turn a blind eye, some for political reasons, others for lack of understanding of the elements. The assassination of Rina Shnerb was the moment in which the Israeli services understood that it was necessary to get to the bottom of the matter “.

According to the Israeli NGO Ngo-Monitor, which tracks the allocation of international funds to the wide spectrum of associations active in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the results of the Israeli intelligence investigations in May are currently being examined in several European countries, including to which Belgium and the Netherlands – which in the meantime have blocked funds in UAWC – and the European Anti-Fraud Office (Olaf) has opened a preliminary investigation to check the possibility that European Commission funds to Palestinian NGOs are diverted to activities in support of terrorism.

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The timing of the designation was also a cause for concern, which comes at a time when, after a decade of stalemate, contacts between the Israeli executive and the NPC are frequent and in the light of day. In August, Defense Minister Gantz himself met with Palestinian President Abu Mazen in Ramallah and in recent months a series of relaxing decisions have been initiated against the PNA, which is in economic collapse. And while the PNA condemns the designation as a “clear attempt to silence Israeli violations against the Palestinian people” and asks the UN to express itself, Alon Schuster, Deputy Minister of Defense, in an interview with Radio 103, argues that this is a decision that “will not compromise our relations with the Palestinian leadership, with whom we continue our cooperation”.

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