Palestinian civil society must be protected against ‘rogue state’ Israel, say NGOs

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch (HRW) have gathered as a delegation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to voice their support for Palestinian civil society and fight against Israel’s abusive and prolonged occupation, annexation, impunity and apartheid. The NGO delegation described Israel as a “rogue state” and called on the international community to protect human rights in Palestine and dismantle Israel’s apartheid regime.

Israel escalated its attack on Palestine civil society in August by raiding seven Palestinian human rights groups and closing down six of them. The six were arbitrarily outlawed and branded as “terrorist groups”, a move which sparked outrage around the world. European countries as well as the US said that they saw no evidence for banning the organisations.

“These raids by the Israeli authorities to shut down the Palestinian groups are aimed at obstructing human rights documentation work and punishing those who criticise the Israeli authorities’ human rights and international law violations,” said the NGO delegation. “They call for accountability, including for apartheid and persecution of millions of Palestinians.” The delegation pointed out that apartheid and persecution are punishable as crimes against humanity and fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

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Reacting to what they have described as an “unprecedented attack on civil society in Palestine and Israel” the NGOs’ joint statement denounced Israel as a “rogue state” and urged the international community to show “firmness” in dealing with its violations.

“The blurring of the lines in all aspects of interior policy, the abusive branding with ‘terrorist organisation’ coupled with the misuse of anti-terrorist legislation is part of a coherent throttling process of civil society in Palestine and Israel,” said Alexis Deswaef, FIDH vice president and human rights lawyer.

Amnesty International highlighted Israel’s apartheid and called on international governments to protect Palestinian civil society groups. “The repression of Palestinian civic space is part of the system of apartheid. Not only are Palestinians under Israeli military occupation, conducted with manifold violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, but then also those organisations and human rights defenders who seek to assist people in need, are shut down,” explained Nathalie Godard, Amnesty’s France director of campaigns.

Calling on governments to “impose meaningful consequences following Israel’s action,” the coalition said that, “States should call on the Israeli government to rescind its designations of these Palestinian human rights groups and allow them to carry out their vital work unhindered.”