The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) condemns the unjust decision of the Israeli Defense Minister on 19 October 2021, designating 6 Palestinian civil society organisations as terrorist organisations. These institutions working in the field of human rights are: Al-Haq Foundation, Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights, Union of Agricultural Work Committees, International Movement for Defense of Children in Palestine, Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.

This latest decision forms part of a continuous pattern of attacks on the Palestinian people, depriving them of  their civil and human rights, as well as their rights to self-determination and to build a prosperous future for all.

Prominent human rights defender, Director-General of Al-Haq Foundation and Secretary-General of the International Federation for Human Rights, Shawan Jabarin, said in press statements that this decision can be characterised as “political par excellence, not a security one.” He added, “Israel has led a campaign for many years against Palestinian NGOs to silence them and end their work in facing Israeli aggression, but this decision will not affect our work.”

GCHR calls on all international mechanisms, including the United Nations and the European Union, as well as governments with an interest in human rights, to take immediate, serious and real action. Such action is necessary to resolutely confront this campaign of intimidation that violates human rights law and aims to dismantle the independent human rights system in Palestine by silencing voices that proclaim the truth and document the grave violations that take place in the country on a daily basis.