Arab League condemns Israeli decision to label Palestinian NGOs as terror groups

Cairo (QNN)- The General Secretariat of the Arab League condemned on Sunday Israel’s decision to designate six Palestinian human rights NGOs as terrorist groups, saying such a move aims at stifling human rights work.

The General Secretariat of the Arab League in a statement released yesterday stressed that such a move affirms the colonial, racist, and terrorist nature of the Israeli occupation, its policies, and practices, saying the move is another link in the chain of undermining the right to civil and human rights work in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It also condemned the Israeli occupation’s policies and practices, including its recent decision against human rights defenders and organizations in the occupied Palestinian territories, which, as it said, aims at stifling human rights work and impeding the monitoring and documentation of ongoing violations in the occupied territories that demand accountability.

On Friday, the Israeli occupation government declared six leading Palestinian NGOs to be affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP): Addameer, Al Haq, Bisan Center, DCI-P, Samidoun and UAWC.

Under Israeli law, membership in terror organizations is punishable by five to seven years in jail, while aiding them is punishable by five years, and praising or promoting them can result in a three-year-long jail sentence.

The Israeli law also permits authorities to confiscate any “terror organization’s” assets and limit its use of space.

The occupation state has targeted civil society dissenters for decades. In the early 2000s however, a series of right-wing organizations, funders and politicians sought to support the Israeli government’s brutal repression of Palestinians by accelerating the attack on civil society dissenters as Israel’s abuses mounted.

In the mid to late aughts, several Israeli human rights organizations came under organized attack, including groups like B’tselem, Yesh Din.

In 2019, Israeli authorities expelled Human Rights Watch’s director in Palestine, Omar Shakir, who is an American citizen after revoking his work visa, accusing him of supporting the BDS movement.

Israel’s decision on Friday sparked a swift backlash around the globe, with the EU, US Jewish NGOs, progressive Democrats, and international human rights organizations expressing criticism.