Alleged infiltration
Israel classifies six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist
Benny Gantz, Israeli Foreign Minister, considers six Palestinian organizations to be “terrorist”. He accuses them of funding Palestinian freedom fighters.
© Tal Shahar / DPA
Israel has classified six Palestinian non-profit organizations as terrorist organizations, effectively banning them. The organizations worked with the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, so the allegation.
The Israeli government has classified six influential Palestinian non-governmental organizations as “terrorist organizations”. The quasi-ban on the organizations sparked sharp criticism from the Palestinian Authority and human rights organizations such as Amnesty International.
The UN human rights office in the Palestinian Territories was “alarmed” by the decision. The Israeli Defense Ministry accuses the six organizations of covert cooperation with the radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Accordingly, humanitarian aid from Europe also flowed into the activities of the PFLP. Affected by the classification are the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), Addameer, Al-Hak, the Union of Committees for Agricultural Work (UAWC), the Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Palestinian section of Defense for Children International (DCI -P). According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, the six organizations form a network that is covertly “active on behalf of the PFLP” in order to “support its activities and advance its goals”.
Organizations allegedly controlled by PFLP
The groups are allegedly non-profit organizations. In fact, they are “controlled by high-ranking representatives of the PFLP”. There are also numerous PFLP members among its staff, “including activists who were involved in terrorist activities.”
According to the ministry’s statement, the six organizations used humanitarian aid received from European governments as a “central source of funding for PFLP activities”. Defense Minister Benny Gantz called on governments and organizations around the world to “refrain from contact with organizations and groups that fuel the flames of terror”.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the classification of the organizations as “terrorist” and as a “disturbing attack on Palestinian civil society and defenders of human rights”. The UN human rights office in the Palestinian Territories was “alarmed” at the move. It accused Israel of “prolonged stigmatization campaigns against these and other organizations” which were thereby affected in “their important work”.
The US government was cautious: The US would first ask its “Israeli partners” for more information, said the State Department spokesman, Ned Price. Washington had not been informed of the move in advance. The US government generally believes that “respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and a strong civil society are vital,” he added.
Human rights organizations criticize Israel
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called the Israeli government’s decision “appalling and unjust”. Classification as “terrorist” would “effectively prohibit” the organizations’ activities, according to a joint statement by the organizations.
Israeli-based human rights organizations also denounced the Defense Ministry’s decision. The Arab-Israeli organization Adalah spoke of an “unprecedented attack” as it was common “in totalitarian and colonial regimes”. The classification of the organizations as “terrorist” marks a “political persecution under the guise of anti-terrorist laws”.
The affected Palestinian organizations have long been in the focus of the Israeli security authorities. The Israeli domestic secret service Schin Bet said in May that there was evidence that the organizations had “defrauded and deceived” several European countries, including Germany. Millions of euros in aid have flowed into the “militant terrorist activities of the PFLP”. The PFLP is also classified as a “terrorist organization” by the EU.