Press Release By Action Aid: On October 19, 2021, the Israeli Defence Ministry issued a military order declaring six Palestinian civil society organisations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory(oPt) to be labelled as “terrorist organisations”.
The organisations are Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees.
This labeling authorises Israeli authorities to close their offices, seize their assets and arrest and jail their staff members, and it prohibits funding or even publicly expressing support for their activities.
These are organisations that actively document human rights violations committed by Israeli occupation in oPt and advocate for the rights of Palestinian people in national and international forums.
Ana Alcalde, Director of Programmes and Global Engagement at ActionAid International, says:
“This unjust decision aims to undermine the work of human rights organisations in Palestinian territories and seeks to prevent those organisations from exposing Israeli violations committed against the Palestinian people under the silence of international community.
“ActionAid is deeply concerned by this move and we condemn this labeling which criminalises human rights works and represses Palestinian civil society organisations and human rights defenders.”
ActionAid is concerned this form of attack is in contravention of international law and international humanitarian law to which Israel must be held accountable.
We stand in solidarity with Palestinian human rights organisations and defenders. We call on the third states members and the international community to oppose this decision, and practice pressures on the Israeli government to reverse it immediately.
About ActionAid:
ActionAid is a global federation working for a world free from poverty and injustice.
We want to see a just, fair and sustainable world, in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and oppression. So we work to achieve social justice and gender equality, and to eradicate poverty. Read More
