Israel rage on six Palestinian human rights organizations this past Thursday drew strong rebuke from many countries around the world.
This Sunday, fifteen Arab parties and organizations in several different Arab states condemned Israel’s attack on and closure of six of the offices of Palestinian civil organizations in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank.
The condemnation was issued in the form of a joint statement from several Arab countries such as Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon.
Workers’ Party (Tunisia), Socialist People’s United Party (Egypt), Labor Democratic Approach Party (Morocco), People’s Democratic Party (Jordan), Communist Party (Lebanon) and Socialist Workers Party (Algeria) were among the signatories of this statement.
“This action of Israel shows the terrorist nature of the occupying regime, which confiscates the land of the Palestinian people, oppresses the people, and prevents the formation of organizations and Associations formed by the Palestinian people to defend their existence, rights and demands,” the statement, published by the Tunisian Workers’ Party on its Facebook page, read.
The above-mentioned parties and organizations also emphasized their unconditional solidarity with the organizations targeted for repression.
The statement further emphasized unconditional solidarity with the organizations targeted for repression and called for necessary activities to “expose the nature of the Zionist regime and its coercive policies to the world.”
Israel’s sudden military raid on the Palestinian NGOs on Thursday in Ramallah and Al Bireh came after Israeli military killed dozens of Palestinians civilians a week before in a three-day airstrike in Gaza.
The six NGOs that Israel closed own and confiscated their property include Addameer, AlHaq, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International – Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.
The NGOs that were attacked by Israeli forces promptly issued a statement saying the raids showed that Israel is “a racist, apartheid, and colonial state.”
US too rebuked Israel’s move
Israel’s attack was so surprising and violent that even the United States, Israel’s number-one ally, couldn’t help but speak up and condemn the move.
In this regard, a broad coalition of about 300 American-based social justice groups wrote a letter to the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday and urged the Biden administration to “immediately and unequivocally” take a firm position against the Israeli’s recent decision.
Similarly, a number of US lawmakers in Congress quickly rebuked Israel’s move. They include U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and advocates from CCR, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, as well as 21 Israel-based groups.
As the news quickly circled around US media and political organizations, State Department spokesperson Ned Price also reacted and said at a regular news briefing on Thursday that the Biden administration is “concerned about the Israeli security forces’ closure of the six offices of the Palestinian NGOs in and around Ramallah today,” Price told reporters.
“We have reached out to the Israeli government, including at senior levels, including here from Washington as well as our embassy in Jerusalem, for more information regarding the basis for these closures,” he also added.
Last but not least, the United Nations also condemned the attacks and closures and said that there was no credible evidence to support the Israeli accusations that the NGOs were in fact of terroristic nature. “Israeli authorities have not presented to the United Nations any credible evidence to justify these closures. As such, the closures appear totally arbitrary,” the UN Human Rights Office said in a statement Friday.
