PA must protect civil society institutions from Israel, rights group says  

The Palestinian Coalition for Economic, Social and Political Rights – Adalah has called on the Palestinian government to assume its responsibilities and protect Palestinian civil society institutions, after Israeli occupation forces stormed seven Palestinian NGOs and confiscated their belongings.

In the early horse of yesterday morning, Israeli forces raided the offices of seven prominent Palestinian human rights organisations, many of whom have been designated “terror organisations” by the Israeli Ministry of Defence, a move decried as an “appalling attack” on Palestinian civil society.

The occupation forces confiscated property belonging to the advocacy groups and sealed their entrances rendering them shut.

Adalah said Israel has pursued the institutions for years with the aim of closing them and halting their human rights and development work under the pretext that they support “terrorism”.

It stressed that the decision to close these institutions and threaten their workers cannot be dealt with in isolation from Israel’s daily attempts to crush everything that is Palestinian as well as the daily and accelerating escalation of attacks against Palestinian prisoners, confiscation of Palestinian land and the announcement of new settlement plans and storming villages, cities as well as assassination of Palestinians.

“These continuous and escalating attacks against our people, land and institutions cannot be confronted with repeated political statements, and the Palestinian government must take serious and real measures on the ground, as the [Israeli] occupation is invading areas where Palestinian law applies and the targeted institutions operate under the framework of Palestinian law and on land classified as under Palestinian sovereignty,” the statement added.

“Social protection and public support for these institutions is the basis that must be strengthened by civil society institutions and by Palestinian organisations,” it added.

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