Israel bans ‘malicious’ human rights organisation

Israeli veterans’ organisation Breaking the Silence has been banned from participating in any official activities with Israeli forces, Palestinian Ma’an News Agency reported.

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon issued the decision earlier today on social media, referring the group hypocrites spreading “false propaganda” against Israeli forces and the state of Israel in an attempt to “delegitimise” them.

Breaking the Silence said it had come under attack for several months, “through a pre-meditated campaign, in which members of the extreme right-wing, including Israeli parliamentarians and elected officials, along with public figures and right-wing organisations, are trying to silence both us and every debate related to the 48-year-long occupation.”

Breaking the Silence is an organisation comprised of Israeli veterans who served in combat “and have taken it upon themselves to expose the Israeli public to the reality of everyday life in the Occupied Territories.”

The group produces videos, collects testimonies and gives lectures – mostly within Israel, but sometimes abroad – on war crimes committed by Israeli leadership since 1967.