Betty McCollum urges White House to condemn Israel’s raids, closures of Palestinian NGOs
Washington (QNN)- US congresswoman Betty McCollum has condemned Israel’s “chilling attack” on several Palestinian human rights groups, calling the Biden administration to slam “these efforts to silence groups advocating for Palestinian human rights civil society.”
“Once again the IDF has launched a chilling attack on Defense for Children International – Palestine, a human rights organization supporting Palestinian children,” McCollum wrote in a Tweet on Thursday..
“The Biden admin. must condemn these efforts to silence groups advocating for Palestinian human rights & civil society,” the congresswoman added.
Once again the IDF has launched a chilling attack on Defense for Children International-Palestine, a human rights organization supporting Palestinian children. The Biden admin. must condemn these efforts to silence groups advocating for Palestinian human rights & civil society.
— Rep. Betty McCollum (@BettyMcCollum04) August 18, 2022
In the early morning of 18 August 2022, Israeli occupation forces forcibly entered, raided, ransacked and damaged properties of six designated Palestinian civil society organizations: Al-Haq, Addameer, the Bisan Center for Research & Development, Defence for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Workers Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).
According to the groups, the armed military forces bashed through the front doors of the offices, welded iron slabs over their entrances, and affixed to each a military order for the immediate closure of the organization and their offices.
Private property and information from three of the offices were seized, adjoining properties damaged and military debris, including sponge-grenades, teargas canisters, and rubber coated and live bullets, were left around the properties. The violent enforcement of these designations impose financial and safety risks upon these organizations, as their finances and assets may be confiscated and their staff members directly targeted, arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned.
The office of Health Work Committees (HWC) was also broken into and raided.
According to the military orders, having been previously designated by Israeli occupation as “terrorist” organisations on 19 October 2021 under Israel’s domestic Counter Terrorism Law, 2016, and later under military order on 3 November 2021 as “unlawful associations” per Article 319 of the Defense (Emergency) Regulations of 1945, the offices of the six organisations have been ordered shut as illegal.
In addition, the military order also considers the work activities conducted inside the organizations as illegal.
The groups have repeatedly denied the allegations and their closure has been met with condemnation from both the United Nations and human rights organisations.
In a joint statement issued on Friday by the Foreign Ministries of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden, the states said, “We are deeply concerned by the raids which took place in the morning of 18 August, as part of a worrying reduction of space for civil society” across the territory.
“These actions are not acceptable,” the nine countries added.
The nine European states noted in the statement, “A free and strong civil society is indispensable for promoting democratic values and for a two state solution.”
The countries also stated on 12 July that “no substantial information was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards the 6 Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as ‘terrorist organisations’. Should convincing evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly.”
State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday that Washington was “concerned about the closure[s]”, but stopped short of criticising the move. Price added that US officials were in contact with their Israeli counterparts “at a high level” to obtain more information on the decision.
McCollum was one of 22 lawmakers who urged the Biden administration to publicly reject Israel’s October decision to designate the NGOs as “terrorist organisations.”
In a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines on July 18, the lawmakers asked the White House to conduct an inter-agency briefing on the move and provide a report to Congress within 30 days.
“A reported lack of evidence to support this decision raises concerns that it may be a deeply repressive measure, designed to criminalize and silence prominent and essential Palestinian human rights organizations,” the letter stated.
