“We are asking for answers from the Israeli government, and we have not yet received convincing answers.… We need proof of these claims.”
This was the reaction of the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell in response to Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s decision in October 2021 to designate six Palestinian non-governmental organizations as terror groups due to their ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The PFLP is well-known for perpetrating numerous terrorist atrocities over the decades and is blacklisted by, among others, the United States and the EU.
Borrell’s remarks – made during a closed-door Ad Hoc Liaison Committee Meeting, which is the international donor group for the Palestinian Authority – followed a chorus of criticism levied at Israel, including accusations the government is trying to “muzzle human rights monitoring” and attempting to “punish” its detractors.
Quizzed about the Israeli decision at a press briefing, US State Department spokesman Ned Price questioned Israel’s move, and contradicted Jerusalem’s assertion that the Biden administration had been forewarned about the designations.
“We believe respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and a strong civil society are critically important to responsible and responsive governance,” Price said in an apparent barb directed at Israel’s government.
And in a typically hyperbolic fashion, the United Nations, which announced plans to fund one of the Palestinian NGOs this year, branded the designations a “frontal attack on the Palestinian human rights movement, and on human rights everywhere,” while claiming such actions are “not what a democracy adhering to well-accepted human rights and humanitarian standards would do.”
The statement from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights also lavished praise on the Palestinian groups:
These organisations speak the language of universal human rights. They use a rights-based approach to their work, including a gendered analysis, to document human rights abuses of all kinds in Palestine, including business-related human rights abuses.”
Large segments of the media took a similar line, with news outlets such as the Associated Press, for example, labeling Gantz’s decision “a major escalation of [Israel’s] decades-long crackdown on political activism in the occupied territories.”
It is, therefore, surprising that not much has been said about the latest development, which is that the European Commission has quietly suspended EU funding to one of the affected NGOs, al-Haq, in addition to instructing the charity Oxfam to halt funding to another of the groups, the Union of Agricultural Works Committees (UWAC) — that is, “until the situation has been clarified.”
Brussels’ decision was revealed in a written question to the Commission submitted by a group of EU parliamentarians.
Meanwhile, the Dutch Government also made clear its reservations about UAWC when it cut funding to the “farming” organization following an independent audit that found numerous ties to the PFLP.
As HonestReporting previously detailed, a seven-month investigation carried out by Proximities Risk Consultancy, of which the results were shared earlier this month with legislators in Brussels, concluded:
- From 2007 to 2020, there were at least 34 individual links between the UAWC and PFLP. Of these 34, 28 were UAWC board members, and 12 simultaneously held “leading positions” in both organizations.
- There are also indications of organizational ties between the UAWC and PFLP. There were contacts between representatives, expressions of solidarity and joint meetings. The UAWC and PFLP also shared buildings. According to the research agency, it is “reasonable to expect the UAWC to be aware of these organi[z]ational ties with the PFLP.”
As is clear, then, evidence is mounting that Israel’s assessment of the existence of ties between the six NGOs and the PFLP has merit.
Indeed, HonestReporting has covered the issue extensively, thereby ensuring that journalists and lawmakers have access to crucial information that helps inform policy (see, for example, here and here).
As such, we believe it would be appropriate for media outlets to report on the latest developments.
Moreover, the US State Department might want to follow the EU’s lead by, at the very least, providing an update on its investigation into the activities of these Palestinian NGOs. This is especially true given that Washington has pledged millions of dollars in aid to groups in the West Bank.
We encourage our readers to seek clarification by — politely but firmly — contacting the US State Department and the US Embassy in Israel.
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