'Respect for freedom is important': US slams Israel for banning Palestinian rights groups

Soon after Israel labelled several Palestinian human rights organisations as terror fronts, the United States said that the zionists needed to respect human rights. In a statement, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that Washington believed that “respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and a strong civil society is critically important for responsible and responsive governance.” Notably, the statement marks the most blatant criticism of Israel since Joe Biden took office. It also comes as a billion-dollar US grant to replenish Israel’s Iron Dome remains in limbo.

On Saturday, Price said that “the US will be engaging its Israeli partners for more information regarding the basis for these designations.” Furthermore, he disclosed that the Naftali Bennett administration did not give the US advance warning about the sanctioning of the Palestinian organisation. However, a later report by Jerusalem Post cited an Israeli official as saying that they had shared intelligence about the move well in advance. 

What did Israel do?

On Friday, Israel outlawed six Palestinian human rights groups, linking them to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian (PFLP)-whose armed wing has been accused of targeting Israelis. In a decree signed by the country’s defence minister Benny Ganz, the zionist administration said that the now-banned organisations acted as a front for PFLP which has been designated as a “terrorist organisation” by the west. However, the rights groups have asserted that it was another zionist ploy to silence their voice against Israeli suppression. Meanwhile, other observers and experts opined that it would give Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and Palestinians Liberation Army (PLA) a chance to increase their raids and arrest Arabs. 

The NGOs that constituted the blacklist include Al-Haq, the Addameer rights group, Defence for Children International-Palestine, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. Israel said that the NGOs funnelled money that they received from Europe and western states to PFLP. Additionally, the Naftali Bennett administration also accused the NGOs of being “controlled by senior leaders” of the Palestinian terror organisation and employing its members including those involved in “terror attacks on Israel.” 

Image: AP