Israel sparks outrage after labelling Palestinian NGOs as terror organisations

In an unexpected move, Israel, on Friday, 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 attacking 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.” 

Move sparks outrage

It is imperative to note that the move came at a time when negotiations on ‘Two-State Solution’ is on a hiatus. Proposed by the United Nations in 1947, the ‘Two-State Solution’ calls for the creation of an independent State of Palestine alongside the State of Israel. The move swiftly galvanised flak not only from Palestinians but also from international organisations and major powers including the United States. The Palestinian Authority (PA) was swift to label it as an “unhinged assault” on Palestinian civil society.

“This appalling and unjust decision is an attack by the Israeli government on the international human rights movement,’ the Human Rights Watch said.

On Saturday, several activists called on the international community to pressurise Israel to reverse its decision. “We hope that the International community will put enough pressure on Israel so that it will back down,” Ubai Aboudi, head of the Bisan Center for Research and Development, one of the targeted groups, told Associated Press. Meanwhile, Sahar Francis, the director of Addameer expressed gratitude for the international support and expressed hope that the pressure would be successful.  

(Image: AP)

(With inputs from AP)