Israel has declared six Palestinian Human Rights Groups as “terrorist organisations”, in a military order issued by Israeli Defence Ministry on Friday.
This move has sparked outrage and condemnation by the Palestinian Authority and international human rights groups.
This declaration appears to pave the way for Israel to raid their offices, seize assets, arrest staff and criminalise any public expressions of support for the groups.
The Israeli Ministry of Defence claimed on Friday that the groups were linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a left-wing movement with a political party, as well as an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis.
The ministry said the humanitarian groups “constitute a network of organisations active undercover on the international front on behalf of the Popular Front.” They are “controlled by senior leaders” of the PFLP and employ its members, including some who had “participated in terror activity”, it said.
Most of the targeted organisations document alleged human rights violations by Israel, which routinely detains Palestinian activists.
The designated groups include Al-Haq, a human rights group founded in 1979, the Addameer rights group, Defence 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.
Strategic Assault
The Palestinian Authority condemned what it said was a “strategic assault on Palestinian civil society and the Palestinian people’s fundamental right to oppose Israel’s illegal occupation and expose its continuing crimes.”
In a joint statement, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch noted that the military order “effectively outlaws” the activities of the six groups.
Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at HRW, told Al Jazeera that Israel’s move was part of a “systematic assault on human rights advocacy”.
“I think this is a reaction to the Israeli government’s recognition that there is growing awareness about their grave abuses, including crimes against humanity, apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians,” Shakir said.
Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, said in a tweet that she was alarmed by the news.
The Israeli human rights group B’Tselem called the government’s declaration “an act characteristic of totalitarian regimes, with the clear purpose of shutting down these organisations.”
“B’Tselem stands in solidarity with our Palestinian colleagues, is proud of our joint work over the years – and is steadfast to continue so.”
