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Statement

Vienna Administrative Court Declares Police Raid of Palestine Solidarity Encampment Vienna Unconstitutional  

In November 2024, the Vienna Administrative Court ruled on a complaint against the Vienna Police concerning the dissolution of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment Vienna at the University of Vienna on 8 May 2024, and declared the measures taken by the police to be unlawful and unconstitutional.  

The Palestine Solidarity Encampment had been set up on the University of Vienna Campus for only three days when the Vienna Police special unit Wiener Einsatzgruppe Alarmabteilung (WEGA) stormed it in the middle of the night, ​​​​attacking students present at the camp. Around 200 armed police officers violently evicted students and activists using drones, surveillance vans, police dogs, lorries, and a crane.   

At the time of the raid, the police gave no​ clear​ indication or ​consistent ​legal basis as to why the camp was being demolished. The Vienna Police Department later declared that after “a final assessment by the Directorate of State Security and Intelligence Service (DSN) […] the purpose of this gathering was no longer compatible with the Austrian legal situation after extensive consideration.” According to the police department of Vienna “the prosecuting authority had to conclude that the true aim or purpose of the gathering […]​ ​was to show solidarity with the aims of HAMAS and to create a mental breeding ground for the approval of terrorist offences within the meaning of Section 282a (2) of the Criminal Code ​(​StGB​)​ [approval of terrorist offences].”   

​​​​​​​The police substantiated these claims, citing that assembly participants had chanted the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” and that the word “Intifada’’ was displayed on banners.  

No factual grounds 

The court dismissed these claims, reaffirming that freedom of assembly and freedom of expression are protected even when opinions expressed are considered shocking or offensive, as per settled case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Moreover, the court highlighted that expressing sympathy for a designated terrorist organisation, as has been claimed by the Vienna Police Department, would only constitute a crime under Section 282a StGB “Approval of terrorist offences” where it is likely to induce the commission of actual terrorist offences. The court further acknowledged that the use of the expressions “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Intifada” does not constitute an incitement to commit a terrorist offence or an identification with Hamas specifically, unless further expressions suggest the opposite. Accordingly, it cannot be concluded a priori that these slogans would create a “mental breeding ground for the approval of terrorist crimes”. Ultimately, there are no factual grounds that could explain the dissolution of the assembly.  

The unlawful attack on the camp  

During the raid, four students refused to leave after the police stormed the camp to prevent eviction and protect it. Three were then physically removed from the camp, isolated, and detained. Another student resisted removal and potential arrest by climbing a nearby tree, remaining there for approximately eight hours. The students were denied legal assistance for hours, and only ​two individuals were​ allowed to enter the premises ​for merely a few minutes ​after protesters loudly advocated for the students’ legal rights.   

Meanwhile, hundreds of supporters spontaneously gathered outside the campus in solidarity, blocking trams and traffic at the intersection of Alser​ Straße​​ ​and Spitalgasse​ in the 9th district of Vienna​. Police reportedly made racist remarks against the protestors, telling one demonstrator that they should “go back to where they came from” after they requested an English translation of the police’s instructions.   

​​Students ​and supporters ​o​utside the​​ ​campus continued to protest until the morning hours of May 9th, occupying the tram lines and disrupting business as usual. Early in the morning, they continued their protests all the way to the police detention centre (PAZ) at Roßauer Lände, where they demanded the release of the arrested activists and ​chanted ​against the destruction of the camp, with a line of police vans tailing them. Once they arrived at the PAZ, they faced a line of seven police vans. Within minutes of their arrival, around 30 people were aggressively surrounded by the police and were not allowed to leave. Police officers physically assaulted protesters and threatened to arrest them in a form of intimidation. Eventually, all protesters were forced to show identification, some were also forced to have their faces photographed. They were later notified by the police that criminal charges were being investigated. ​​​ 

​​​Some of the students saw it as a necessity not to let this happen without taking a stand and took this case to court to draw attention to the repression of the Palestine Solidarity Movemen​​t in Austria. ​​ 

​​​ELSC lawyer Kiran Chaudhuri said: “We welcome the ruling obtained by our partner lawyers in Austria as a legal victory against the increasingly authoritarian anti-Palestinian repression committed by European police authorities. The court made it abundantly clear that freedom of expression and assembly are constitutional rights which are not to be granted by the police but, rather, must be protected by the authorities. This ruling can serve as a legal precedent for similar unlawful police actions against the growing Palestine solidarity movement in Europe.” ​​ 


Deutsch

Verwaltungsgericht Wien erklärt Räumung des Solidaritätscamps für Palästina Wien für verfassungswidrig  

Im November 2024 entschied das Verwaltungsgericht Wien über eine Beschwerde gegen die Wiener Polizei bezüglich der Räumung des Solidaritätscamps für Palästina in Wien am 8. Mai 2024 und erklärte die von der Polizei ergriffenen Maßnahmen für rechtswidrig, sowie verfassungswidrig.  

Das Solidaritätscamp für Palästina war erst drei Tage zuvor auf dem Campus der Universität Wien errichtet worden, als die Wiener Einsatzgruppe Alarmabteilung (WEGA) der Wiener Polizei es mitten in der Nacht stürmte und die anwesenden Studierenden angriff. Rund 200 bewaffnete Polizeibeamte vertrieben die Studierenden und Aktivist:innen gewaltsam mit Drohnen, Observationsfahrzeugen, Polizeihunden, Lastwägen und einem Kran.   

Zum Zeitpunkt der Razzia gab die Polizei keine klare Angabe oder einheitliche Rechtsgrundlage dafür, warum das Camp geräumt wurde. Die Wiener Polizeidirektion erklärte später, dass nach „einer abschließenden Bewertung durch die Direktion für Staatssicherheit und Nachrichtendienst (DSN) […] der Zweck dieser Versammlung nach eingehender Prüfung nicht mehr mit der österreichischen Rechtslage vereinbar war”. Laut der Polizeidirektion Wien „musste die Staatsanwaltschaft zu dem Schluss kommen, dass das wahre Ziel oder der wahre Zweck der Versammlung […] darin bestand, Solidarität mit den Zielen von HAMAS zu zeigen und einen geistigen Nährboden für die Billigung terroristischer Straftaten im Sinne von § 282a Abs. 2 StGB (Billigung terroristischer Straftaten) zu schaffen.”  

Die Polizei begründete diese Behauptungen damit, dass Versammlungsteilnehmer:innen den Slogan „From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free“ gerufen hätten und dass das Wort „Intifada“ auf Bannern zu sehen gewesen sei.  

Keinerlei sachliche  Begründung 

Das Gericht wies diese Behauptungen mit der Begründung zurück, dass die Versammlungs- und Meinungsfreiheit auch dann geschützt sind, wenn die geäußerten Meinungen schockierend oder beleidigend sind. Dies ist in der ständigen Rechtsprechung des Europäischen Gerichtshofs für Menschenrechte festgelegt. Darüber hinaus würde das Bekunden von Sympathie für eine designierte terroristische Vereinigung, wie von der Wiener Polizei behauptet, nur dann eine Straftat nach § 282a StGB „Billigung terroristischer Straftaten“ darstellen, wenn dadurch die Begehung tatsächlicher terroristischer Straftaten verursacht werden könnte. Darüber hinaus erkannte das Gericht an, dass die bloße Verwendung der Ausdrücke „From The River To The Sea, Palestine Will Be Free“ und „Intifada“ keine Anstiftung zur Begehung einer terroristischen Straftat darstellt und nicht a priori eine eindeutige Identifikation mit der Hamas bedeutet, es sei denn, weitere Ausdrücke deuten auf das Gegenteil hin. Daher kann nicht von vornherein geschlussfolgert werden, dass diese Slogans einen „geistigen Nährboden für die Billigung terroristischer Verbrechen“ schaffen würden. Somit besteht keinerlei Sachlage, die die Auflösung der Versammlung rechtfertigen würde.  

Der rechtswidrige Überfall auf das Camp  

Während der Räumung weigerten sich vier Studierende das Camp zu verlassen, nachdem die Polizei es gestürmt hatte. So wollten sie die Räumung verhindern und das Camp schützen. Drei der Studierenden wurden daraufhin gewaltsam aus dem Camp geschafft, isoliert und in Gewahrsam genommen. Eine weitere studierende Person widersetzte sich der Räumung und einer möglichen Verhaftung, indem sie auf einen nahen gelegenen Baum kletterte und dort etwa acht Stunden lang ausharrte. Stundenlang wurde ihnen Rechtsbeistand verweigert, und nur zwei Personen durften das Areal für lediglich ein paar Minuten betreten, nachdem Demonstrant:innen lautstark für die Rechte der Studierenden eingetreten waren.  

Währenddessen versammelten sich spontan hunderteUnterstützer:innen vor dem Campus, um ihre Solidarität zu bekunden, und blockierten Straßenbahnen und den Verkehr an der Kreuzung Alser Straße und Spitalgasse im 9. Wiener Bezirk. Es wurde berichtet, dass die Polizei rassistische Bemerkungen gegenüber den Protestierenden machte und einer Person sagte, sie solle „dorthin zurückgehen, wo sie hergekommen ist”, nachdem eine englische Übersetzung der Anweisungen der Polizei erbeten wurde.  

Die Studierenden und Unterstützer:innen vor dem Campus protestierten bis in die Morgenstunden des 9. Mai, besetzten die Straßenbahnlinien und verhinderten damit business as usual. Am frühen Morgen setzten sie ihren Protest bis zum Polizeianhaltezentrum (PAZ) in der Roßauer Lände fort, wo sie die Freilassung der verhafteten Aktivist:innen forderten und gegen die Zerstörung des Camps protestierten. Sie wurden dabei von einer Kolonne von Polizeifahrzeugen begleitet. Als sie im PAZ ankamen, wurden sie von einer Reihe von sieben Polizeifahrzeugen empfangen. Innerhalb weniger Minuten nach ihrer Ankunft wurden etwa 30 Personen von der Polizei aggressiv umzingelt und durften das Gelände nicht verlassen. Polizeibeamte griffen Demonstrierende körperlich an und drohten zur Einschüchterung mit Verhaftungen. Die Polizei zwang schließlich alle Demonstrierenden, sich auszuweisen. Mehrere Demonstrierende wurden gezwungen, sich fotografieren zu lassen. Diese erhielten später von der Polizei die Auskunft, dass strafrechtliche Ermittlungen gegen sie eingeleitet werden.  

Einige der Studierenden sahen es als unumgänglich an, dem nicht tatenlos zuzusehen. Sie brachten diesen Fall vor Gericht, um auf die Repression gegen die Palästina-Solidaritätsbewegung in Österreich aufmerksam zu machen.  

Kiran Chaudhuri, Senior Legal Officer des ELSC, erklärte: „Wir begrüßen dieses Urteil, das von unseren Partneranwält:innen in Österreich erstritten wurde, als einen juristischen Erfolg gegen die zunehmend autoritäre anti-palästinensische Repression durch europäische Polizeibehörden. Das Gericht hat unmissverständlich klargestellt, dass die Meinungs- und Versammlungsfreiheit verfassungsmäßige Rechte sind, die nicht von der Polizei gewährt werden, sondern vielmehr von den Behörden geschützt werden müssen. Das Urteil kann als Präzedenzfall für ähnliche rechtswidrige Polizeieinsätze gegen die wachsende palästinensische Solidaritätsbewegung in Europa dienen.“  


تُعلنُ محكمة فيينا الإداريّة أنّ مداهمة الشّرطة للمخيّم الاحتجاجيّ “تضامنًا مع فلسطين” مداهمةٌ غير قانونيّة ومخالفة للدّستور 

في شهر نوفمبر/تشرين الثّاني 2024، أصدرت المحكمة الإداريّة في فيينا حكمها المتعلّق بشكوى ضدّ شرطة فيينا بسبب إزالتها وتدميرها لمخيّم التّضامن مع فلسطين، الذّي أقامه نشطاء بتاريخ 8 ماي/مايو 2024 في حرم الجامعة، وأعلنت المحكمة أنّ التّدابير والإجراءات التّي اتّخذتها الشّرطة تُعتبرُ غير قانونيّة ومخالفة لما ينصّ عليه الدّستور. 

للتّذكير، نصب النّشطاء خيامًا لتنظيم مخيّم في حرم جامعة فيينا تعبيرًا عن تضامنهم مع القضيّة الفلسطينيّة. بعد ثلاثة أيام، تدخّلت الوحدة الخاصّة لشرطة فيينا (Wiener Einsatzgruppe Alarmabteilung) واقتحمت المكان في ساعات متأخّرة من اللّيل مهاجمةً الطّلاب المتواجدين هناك. قام حوالي 200 شرطيّ مسلّح بإخلاء المكان من الطّلاب والنّاشطين بطريقة عنيفة مستخدمين الدّرونز (طائرات التّجسّس دون طيّار)، عربات المراقبة، الكلاب البوليسيّة، الشّاحنات، وآلة رافعة. 

أثناء المداهمة، لم تقدّم الشّرطة دواعي واضحة أو أسس قانونيّة بنّاءة لتبرير إزالة المخيّم وهدمه. لاحقًا، أعلنت إدارة شرطة فيينا أنّه إثر “تقييم نهائيّ قامت به كلّ من مديريّة أمن الدّولة وجهاز الاستخبارات (DSN) […] وبعد تدقيق النّظر بشكل واسع النّطاق، أُعتبرَ هدف هذا التّجمع غير مناسبٍ للوضع القانونيّ النّمساويّ.” 

حسب إدارة شرطة فيينا، “كان على النّيابة العامّة أن تستنتج أنّ الهدف الحقيقيّ أو الغرض من التّجمّع هو التّعبير عن التّضامن مع أهداف حركة حماس وخلق بيئة خصبة نفسيًّا متسامحةٍ مع ارتكاب الجرائم الإرهابية بموجب المادّة 282 أ (2) من القانون الجنائيّ (StGB) [الموافقة على الجرائم الإرهابيّة].” 

برّرت الشّرطة هذه المزاعم لأنّ المشاركين والمشاركات في التّجمّع ردّدوا شعار “فلسطين ستكون حرّة من النّهر إلى البحر” ولأنّ لافتات المتظاهرين احتوت على كلمة “انتفاضة”. 

غياب أسس بنّاءة لتبرير تفريق التّجمّع 

رفضت المحكمة هذه الادّعاءات مشيرة إلى ضرورة حماية حريّة التّجمّع وحريّة التّعبير حتّى ولو كانت الآراء المُعبّرُ عنها في مثل هذه التّجمّعات صادمةً أو ذات صبغة عدوانيّة، وذلك فقًا لقانون السّوابق والأحكام القضائيّة للمحكمة الأوروبيّة لحقوق الإنسان. ووضّحت المحكمة أنّ التّعبير عن التّعاطف مع منظمّة مصنّفة على أنها إرهابيّة، كما إدّعى قسم الشرطة في فيينا، يُشكّل جريمةً يعاقب عليها القانون بموجب المادّة 282 أ من القانون الجنائيّ “الموافقة على الجرائم الإرهابية”، فقط في حالة ما إذا كان من المرجح أن يؤدّي التّعبير عنها إلى ارتكاب جرائم إرهابيّة فعلية نتيجة لذلك. 

وأقرّت المحكمة أيضًا بأنّ مجرّد استخدام شعار “فلسطين ستكون حرّة من النّهر إلى البحر” وكلمة “انتفاضة” لا يُشكّلُ تحريضًا على ارتكاب جريمة إرهابيّة ولا يشكّل مبدئيًّا تقمّصًا لمبادئ حركة حماس بشكل خاص، إلاّ في حالة ما إذا أشارت تعابير أخرى إلى خلاف ذلك. بناءً عليه، لا يمكن أن نستنتج دون إثبات وبشكل نظريّ أنّ مثل هذه الشّعارات من شأنها أن تخلق “تربة خصبةً نفسيًّا تشجّع على الموافقة على ارتكاب الجرائم الإرهابيّة”. وختامًا، لا توجد أيّ أسس بنّاءة لتبرير تفريق التّجمّع المتضامن مع فلسطين. 

هجمة غير قانونيّة على المخيّم 

خلال المداهمة، رفض أربعة طلّاب مغادرة المكان بعد اقتحام الشّرطة للمخيّم. وقد قاموا بذلك لمنع الإخلاء وحماية المخيّم. ثمّ قامت الشّرطة بإخراج ثلاثة من الطّلاب من المخيّم وعزلهم واحتجازهم. في نفس الآونة، قاوم طالب آخر محاولة إخراجه من المخيّم واعتقاله المحتمل، فتسلّق شجرة قريبة وظلّ هناك لمدة ثماني ساعات تقريبًا. إثر ذلك، حُرمَ الطّلاب من التّمتّع بحقّهم في الحصول على المساعدة القانونيّة لساعات ولم يُسمح إلاّ لشخصين فقط بدخول المبنى لبضع دقائق فقط بعد أن دافع المتظاهرون بصوت عالٍ عن حقوق الطّلاب بموجب القانون. 

وفي نفس الوقت، تجمّع المئات من المؤيّدين عفويًّا خارج حرم الجامعة تضامنًا مع الطّلاب، فقاموا بتعطيل حركة مرور عربات التّرام وحركة المرور عمومًا عند تقاطع شارعيْ Alser Straße و Spitalgasse في الدّائرة التّاسعة لمدينة فيينا. حسب التّقارير، وجّهت الشّرطة تعاليق عنصريّة للمتظاهرين وقالت لأحدهم أنّه عليهم “العودة من حيث أتوا”، بعد أن طلب من الشرطة ترجمة تعليماتها إلى اللّغة الانجليزيّة. 

واصل الطّلاب ومؤيّدوهم الاحتجاجَ خارج حرم الجامعة إلى صباح يوم 9 ماي/مايو على خطوط عربات التّرام وعطّلوا مجرى الأمور كالمعتاد. وفي وقت مبكّر من صباح ذلك اليوم، واصل المتظاهرون مسيرتهم الاحتجاجيّة إلى أن وصلوا إلى مركز الاحتجاز الأمنيّ (PAZ) في روساوير لاند، حيث طالبوا بالإفراج عن النّاشطين المعتقلين وهتفوا مندّدين بإجراء إزالة المخيّم وتدميره وقد لاحقتهم عربات الشّرطة خلال مسيرتهم. 

وفي غضون دقائق قليلة من وصولهم، حاصرت الشّرطة حوالي 30 شخصًا بشكل عدوانيّ ولم تسمح لهم بالمغادرة. بعد ذلك، اعتدى أعوان الشّرطة جسديًّا عليهم وهدّدوا باعتقالهم، ممّا يعتبر شكلاً من أشكال التّرهيب. في نهاية المطاف، أجبرت الشّرطة جميع المتظاهرين على إظهار هويّاتهم وأجبرت أيضًا العديد من المتظاهرين على أخذ صور لوجوههم. لاحقًا، أعلمت الشّرطة المتظاهرون بأنّهم محلّ التّحقيق في تهم جنائيّة. 

نتيجة لهذه الأحداث، اعتبر بعض الطّلاب أنّه من الضّروريّ عدم السّماح بحدوث مثل هذا الأمر وأنّه يجب اتّخاذ موقف، فقاموا بالتّالي برفع قضيّة في المحكمة لتسليط الضّوء على القمع الذّي تشهد حركة التّضامن في فلسطين في النّمسا. 

 حسب أقوال كيران شودوري، محامي في المركز الأوروبيّ للدّعم القانونيّ (ELSC): “نحن نرحّب كلّ التّرحيب بالحكم الذّي تحصّل عليه شكاؤنا المحامون في النّمسا، فهو يعتبرُ انتصارًا قانونيًّا ضدّ القمع الاستبداديّ ضدّ فلسطين الذّي ما فتئ يتغلغلُ في مختلف أركان أقسام الشّرطة في أوروبا. لقد بيّنت المحكمة بكلّ وضوح أنّ حريّة التّعبير والتّجمّع حقوق دستوريّة لا يجب أنّ تمسّها الشّرطة: على العكس، يجب على السّلطات حماية هذه الحقوق. يُمكن اعتبار هذا الحكم سابقةً قانونيّةً تستهدفُ إجراءات غير قانونيّة مماثلة اتّخذتها الشّرطة ضدّ حركة التّضامن مع فلسطين التّي تنتشرُ أكثر فأكثر في أوروبا.”  

Categories
Statement

Solidarity with Amsterdammers Standing Up Against Genocide and State Repression

DUTCH AND ARABIC BELOW.

We at the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) stand in solidarity with the people in Amsterdam standing up against the genocide perpetrators, supporters, and vicious police force unleashed on our streets over the past weeks.  

While Israel, with full impunity and full support from the Dutch government, is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the racist Dutch government and the Amsterdam municipality collude with the Israeli government against their own population. Mainstream media outlets engaged in a disinformation campaign and Dutch authorities pre-emptively banned demonstrations to suppress those who speak out against the glorification and justification of genocide. The demonstration ban issued on 8 November led to massive police deployment and extreme violence against protesters, as well as arbitrary arrests and forcible removal outside of Amsterdam where police were shown to assault demonstrators in the night. This is a worrying precedent under an alarming pattern of restrictions. 

These acts constitute an outrageous attack against the fundamental right to assembly and association and are in direct breach of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In a joint statement published in February 2024, nine UN Special Rapporteurs stressed that “protests and rights movements should be facilitated rather than restricted or criminalised” and that “enabling and protecting human rights defenders and fundamental freedoms is also vital to give effect to the recent ruling by the International Court of Justice.” Instead, the Dutch government is emboldening Israel’s indiscriminate attacks on Palestinians by cracking down on protest rights and jeopardising freedom of expression and assembly. This is happening in a context already marked by anti-Palestinian repression. Individuals in the Netherlands have been fired from their jobs for voicing opinions on social media or have reported facing hate speech, censorship and self-censoring fearing reprisals, including discrimination and criminalisation, for voicing their opinions online and offline. 

While the Netherlands further descends into fascism, we keep each other safe. 

As ELSC, our team in the Netherlands is devoting all their capacities to monitoring all forms  of repression against protesters and activists and connecting those in need of legal support to our network of lawyers. If you have faced police violence or any other form of repression for protesting or advocating for Palestinian rights, we strongly encourage you to fill out the ELSC report form. Sending your report is crucial as it helps us gather evidence and create a database to expose and challenge the systematic forms of anti-Palestinian repression. 

In summary, allow us to remind you to: 

  • Report all incidents of repression and request support by filling out this form, available in Dutch, Arabic, English, and several other languages.  
  • Consult our Know Your Rights Toolkit for Protesters in the Netherlands. It provides an overview of protest law in the Netherlands and pays attention to specific questions and themes that affect our movement. It is available in Dutch, Arabic, and English. 

In solidarity with our movement.


Solidariteit met de Amsterdammers die opstaan tegen genocide en staatrepressie

Wij van het European Legal Support Center (ELSC) zijn solidair met de mensen in Amsterdam die opstaan tegen genocideplegers, hun aanhangers en de wrede politiemacht die de afgelopen weken op onze straten zijn losgelaten.

Terwijl Israël – met volledige straffeloosheid en met volledige steun van de Nederlandse regering – genocide pleegt op Palestijnen in Gaza, spannen de racistische Nederlandse regering en de gemeente Amsterdam samen met de Israëlische regering tegen hun eigen bevolking. De mainstream media ondersteunden hen met een desinformatiecampagne, en de Nederlandse autoriteiten verboden preventief demonstraties om mensen die opstaan tegen genocide te criminaliseren. Het demonstratieverbod dat op 8 november werd uitgevaardigd leidde tot massale politie-inzet, willekeurige arrestaties, en extreem geweld tegen demonstranten. Demonstranten werden bijvoorbeeld buiten Amsterdam gereden, waar politie hen in het holst van de nacht aanviel. Dit is een zorgwekkend precedent.

Deze daden vormen een schandelijke aanval op het fundamentele recht op vergadering en vereniging en zijn een directe schending van Artikel 11 van het Europees Verdrag voor de Rechten van de Mens. In een gezamenlijke verklaring uit februari 2024 benadrukten negen Speciale VN-Rapporteurs dat “protesten en bewegingen voor rechten moeten worden gefaciliteerd in plaats van beperkt of gecriminaliseerd” en dat “het faciliteren en beschermen van mensenrechtenverdedigers en fundamentele vrijheden ook van vitaal belang is om uitvoering te geven aan de recente uitspraak van het Internationaal Gerechtshof.”

In plaats van te handelen volgens het internationaal recht moedigt de Nederlandse regering Israëls aanvallen op Palestijnen aan door het protestrecht met harde hand aan te pakken en de vrijheid van meningsuiting en vergadering in gevaar te brengen. Dit gebeurt in een context die al wordt gekenmerkt door anti-Palestijnse repressie. Individuen in Nederland zijn ontslagen omdat ze hun mening gaven op sociale media of hebben te maken met haatzaaierij, censuur of zelfcensuur uit angst voor represailles, waaronder discriminatie en criminalisering, voor het geven van hun mening online en offline.

Terwijl Nederland verder afglijdt in het facisme, houden wij elkaar veilig.

Ons team in Nederland zet al diens capaciteiten in om alle vormen van repressie tegen demonstranten en activisten te monitoren en om degenen die juridische ondersteuning nodig hebben in contact te brengen met ons netwerk van advocaten. Als je te maken hebt gehad met politiegeweld en/of enige andere vorm van onderdrukking omdat je protesteerde of opkwam voor Palestijnse rechten, dan raden we je sterk aan om dit bij ons te melden via dit formulier. Dit is cruciaal omdat het ons helpt bewijs te verzamelen en een database aan te leggen om de systematische vormen van anti-Palestijnse onderdrukking aan de kaak te stellen en aan te vechten.

Ter afsluiting willen we je eraan herinneren om:

  • Alle incidenten van repressie en vragen voor ondersteuning aan ons te laten weten door dit formulier in te vullen, beschikbaar in het Nederlands, Arabisch, Engels, en verschillende andere talen.
  • Onze Know Your Rights-toolkit voor demonstranten in Nederland te raadplegen. Deze geeft een overzicht van de wetgeving met betrekking tot protesteren in Nederland en besteedt aandacht aan specifieke vragen en thema’s die van invloed zijn op onze beweging. De toolkit is beschikbaar in het Nederlands, Arabisch en Engels.
  • Deze tips te lezen over wat te doen voor, tijdens, en na huiszoekingen.
  • Naar deze pagina te gaan mocht steun en herstel nodig zijn na het meemaken van of getuige zijn van politiegeweld.
  • Deze gids te raadplegen over het voorkomen van en de nazorg van doxing.

In solidariteit met onze beweging.


تضامناً مع سكان أمستردام في مواجهة الإبادة الجماعية والقمع الحكومي.

نحنُ، المركز الأوروبيّ للدّعم القانونيّ (CSLE)، نعبّر عن تضامننا الكامل مع سكّان مدينة أمستردام، الذين يقاومون مرتكبي الإبادة الجماعية وداعميهم والقوة البوليسية الشرسة التي اجتاحت شوارعنا خلال الأسابيع الماضية.

في الوقت الذي ترتكب فيه إسرائيل الإبادة الجماعية ضد الفلسطينيين في غزة بدعم كامل ومن دون محاسبة من الحكومة الهولندية، تتواطأ الحكومة الهولندية العنصرية وبلدية أمستردام مع الحكومة الإسرائيلية ضد سكانها.

لقد شاركت وسائل الإعلام الرّئيسيّة في حملات إعلاميّة تضليليّة واسعة النّطاق وقامت السّلطات الهولنديّة بحظر المظاهرات بشكل استباقيّ الغية قمع الأصوات التّي تعلُو مُندّدةً بتمجيد وتبرير الإبادة الجماعيّة. أدّى حظر المظاهرات بتاريخ 8 نوفمبر إلى انتشار مُكثّفٍ لقوّات الشّرطة ولجوءٍ إلى عنف شديدٍ ضدّ المتظاهرين والمتظاهرات. كما نتجَتْ عن هذا الحظر مجموعةٌ من الاعتقالات ذات الصّبغة التّعسفيّة وطردٌ قسريّ خارج نطاق أمستردام حيثُ تَبيّنَ للعِيان اعتداءُ الشّرطة على المتظاهرين ليلاً. يشكل هذا سابقة خطيرة في نمط مقلق  من القيود المفروضة .

تشكل مِثْلُ هذه الإجراءات اعتداءً صارخاً على الحق الأساسي  التّجمّع وتكوين الجمعيّات، ممّا يُشكّلُ انتهاكًا مباشرًا للمادّة 11 من الاتّفاقيّة الأوروبيّة لحقوق الإنسان. في بيان مشترك نُشرَ في شهر فبراير 4202، أكدت تسعة من المقرّرين الخاصّين الأمم المتّحدة على أنّ “يجب تسهيل الاحتجاجات والحركات الحقوقية بدلاً من تقييدها أو تجريمها”، كما أن “تمكين المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان وحماية الحريات الأساسية أمران حيويان لتنفيذ حكم محكمة العدل الدولية الأخير.” 

لكنْ بدلاً من ذلك، تعمل الحكومة الهولنديّة على تشجيع الهجمات العشوائيّة التّي تشنّها إسرائيل على الشّعب الفلسطينيّ من خلال قمع حقّ الاحتجاج والتّظاهر وتعريض حريّة التّعبير والتّجمّع للخطر، وهذا ليس بالأمر الجديد، فكلّها أمور تحدثُ في سياق يتّسمُ، مُنذ فترة من الزّمن، بقمع يستهدفُ الفلسطينيّين: ففي هولندا، فُصلَ أشخاص من وظائفهم بسبب تعبيرهم عن آرائهم على وسائل التّواصل الاجتماعيّ وأفاد آخرون كونهم كانوا ضحايا لخطاب الكراهيّة، وللرّقابة، والرّقابة الذّاتيّة كذلك خوفًا من أيّ شكل من أشكال الانتقام، بعبارة أخرى تعرّضهم للتّمييز والتّجريم مثلاً بسبب التّعبير عن آرائهم عبر شبكة الإنترنت وخارج نطاقها.

في الوقت الذي تنحدر فيه هولندا أكثر نحو الفاشية، نبقى معاً لنحمي بعضنا البعض.

يُكرّسُ فريقنا في المركز الأوروبيّ للدّعم القانونيّ (CSLE) في هولندا كلّ جهوده لرصدِ جميع أشكال القمع ضدّ المتظاهرين والنّاشطين ولنكونَ همزة وصل تربطُ بين الأشخاص المحتاجين إلى الدّعم القانونيّ والمحامين في شبكتنا. إذا كنت ضحيّة من ضحايا عنف قوّات الشّرطة أو أيّ شكل آخر من أشكال القمع في إطار احتجاج، أو مظاهرة ما، أو مناصرة لحقوق الفلسطينيّين، نُشجّعُكَ كلّ التّشجيع على تعمير نموذج استمارة الإبلاغ الخاصّة بالمركز الأوروبيّ للدّعم القانونيّ. إنّ إرسال بلاغك أمرٌ في غاية الأهميّة، فهو يساعدُنا على جمع الأدلّة وإنشاء قاعدة بيانات لتسليط الضّوء على مختلف الأشكال المنهجيّة لقمع الفلسطينيّين والعمل معًا على مواجهتها.

:باختصار: تذكير بما يمكنكم فعله

يرجى الإبلاغ عن أيّ حادثةٍ ذات صبغة قمعيّة وطلب المساعدة والدّعم من خلال ملء هذه الاستمارة المتوفّرة باللّغة الهولنديّة، والعربيّة، والانجليزيّة، وغيرها من اللّغات.

الاطّلاع على الدّليل تحت عنوان “تعرّف/ي على حقوقك: مجموعة أدوات للمتظاهرين/ات في هولندا“. يوفّرُ هذا الدّليل نبذةً عامّةً عن قانون الاحتجاج والتّظاهر في هولندا ويسلّط الضّوء على أسئلة ومواضيع معيّنة تُأثّر على حركتنا. الوثيقة متوفّرة باللّغة الهولنديّة، والعربيّة، والانجليزيّة.

يرجى قراءة هذه النّصائح حول ما يجب فعله قبل، وأثناء، وبَعْدَ عمليّات تفتيش المنازل.

يرجى الأخذ بعين الاعتبار محتوى هذا الدّليل المتعلّق بتفادي عمليّة استقاء المعلومات الشّخصيّة وطريقة التّداول معها إثر حدوثها.

معاًَ في تضامن مع حركاتنا.

Categories
Statement

Solidarity With Students & Allies Protesting For Palestinian Rights 

The ELSC stands in solidarity with, and endorses the principled demands of, student protestors in Europe to disclose, divest and cut all ties with Israeli universities, corporations and all those complicit in the state of Israel’s crimes of genocide, colonisation, occupation and apartheid against Palestinians. 

We have seen among the most extreme police violence against students and university staff, as well as the supporting local community. Often with the implicit support of university executives and in cooperation with the police and city mayors. In the Netherlands, for instance, an army of riot police, attack dogs, bulldozers, pepper spray and batons have been used against protestors, and we also documented police violence in France, Germany and Austria. The ELSC firmly believes that protestors have a right to defend themselves from police violence. 

The political establishment, from elected politicians to the unaccountable police force, are giving rise to an increasingly hostile environment that allows for repression not just from the state but the far-right who are emboldened and given free rein to attack Palestine protesters. 

University administrations, who instead of showing a duty of care to their students, are acting as enforcers of repression. In doing so they are showing a complete disregard for the health, rights and just demands of their students and staff. Their complicity in the wholly disproportionate punishment of students is matched with their complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. It also fully exposes such bodies, not as institutions of free thought and public learning, but as protectors of the state.  

More than 35.000 Palestinians have been confirmed killed by Israel – but the healthcare infrastructure to record the death toll has collapsed, meaning the real death toll is likely far higher. Rafah has been invaded, displacing at least 450.000. The border crossing to Egypt is closed, preventing evacuations and the entry of humanitarian aid. Forced hunger leading to famine is rising and Gaza has become completely unlivable. A large number of European universities insist on maintaining ties with research institutions and companies who are deeply embedded and complicit in the Israeli state and industrial complex that drive genocide. 

We call on everyone to support Palestinians and their allies as they continue to fight for justice, despite all odds to see liberation in our lifetime. 

Please make sure to: 

  • Report all incidents of repression and request legal support here: Report an incident (elsc.support) and see here why it is important to report repression to the ELSC 
  • Stay safe by consulting our ‘know your rights’ resources for Palestinian rights advocates, including protesters, in the Netherlands, in the UK and Italy here
  • See more ‘know your rights’ resources for other countries/ contexts here 
Categories
Statement

To Confront the Ongoing Nakba and Genocide: Resistance until Liberation and Return

Ongoing Nakba, Ongoing Genocide

For more than 76 years, the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime has maintained its system of domination and oppression through a strategy that is based on three pillars: forced displacement and transfer, colonization and apartheid. This regime consists of a plethora of policies, practices, and laws that result in the creation, sustainment, and augmentation of the longest standing displaced population in the world: 9.17 million Palestinian refugees and internally displaced persons who continue to be denied their rights to reparations, including return, properties restitution and compensation, as enshrined in UNGA Resolution 194 of 1948. In addition, these pillars have resulted in Israel’s control of 85 percent of the land of Mandatory Palestine.

After more than seven months of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, Palestinians remain unprotected and continue to be killed, starved, tortured, besieged and forcibly displaced over and over again. Not only is Israel attacking a protected population, but is also taking measures to destroy the Palestinian population there, slowly, through the weaponization of aid to the point ofmalnutrition and famine, destruction of the healthcare infrastructure, and the denial of healthcare services.

Supported by its colonial allies, Israel has not only refused to ease its chokehold and genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, but has also intentionally denied the needed amount of aid reaching the
starved Palestinian population there, especially in the north, and deliberately obstructed the work of UNRWA and many other international agencies.

Palestinian refugees make up 81 percent of the population in Gaza. They are now also experiencing internal displacement with approximately 1.7 million Palestinians out of 2.3 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip being internally displaced. This represents a staggering 75 percent of the population, and marks one of the largest displacements since 1948. It is clear that the genocide in Gaza is not an isolated event but rather a component of the Ongoing Nakba, fulfilling Israel’s ultimate goal to control the maximum amount of Palestinian land, with the minimum number of Palestinians.

Escalated Suppression of Palestinians

Under the umbrella of the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, Israel has escalated its suppression of Palestinians in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and in 1948 Palestine. Israel has intensified its policies of silencing Palestinian voices, land confiscation, bolstered by colonizer attacks and access restrictions, resulting in the killing of hundreds and forcibly displacing thousands of Palestinians.

Israeli forces have heavily targeted Palestinian cities and refugee camps in the West Bank through daily raids and incursions, killing residents and destroying public infrastructure and homes.

The number of arbitrary arrests has also skyrocketed with rampant reports of torture and ill-treatment, medical neglect, systematic abuse, beatings and attacks against prisoners. Additionally, the bodies of political prisoners continue to be denied dignified burial, as they are detained by the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime.

Ongoing Complicity

After 76 years of Ongoing Nakba, colonial states, with their domination of the international community, continue to provide support and impunity to the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime, while simultaneously ignoring its legal and moral responsibilities. Satisfied with only setting up public relations ploys and voicing empty concerns over the “humanitarian crisis”, western colonial powers continue to politically, financially and militarily support Israel. These states have become active agents of genocide, by weaponizing aid, supporting Israel in its “day after plans” including its ongoing campaign to defund, eliminate and replace UNRWA. While Israel still hasn’t provided evidence of its allegations, complicit states have deemed the most recent UN review of UNRWA as “insufficient” and continue to suspend the Agency’s funding.

Ongoing Resistance and Solidarity

Despite more than 76 years of displacement, oppression, and ethnic cleansing and genocide, the Palestinian people remain steadfast in their resistance against the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime in pursuit of their liberation. Palestinian resistance in all of its forms, in Mandatory Palestine and abroad, has been met with overwhelming solidarity from people of conscience across the globe, with the efforts of the global solidarity movement standing in stark contrast with clear moral and legal bankruptcy of colonial states and their leaders.

Now, more than ever, we reaffirm that the only solution to the Ongoing Nakba is a comprehensive rights-based decolonization framework, which will ensure the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights to self-determination and return. Palestinian resistance, combined with the sustained and strategic efforts of the global solidarity movement, is the only way through which the Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip will end, Israel’s colonial-apartheid regime will be sanctioned and dismantled, and colonial states will be held accountable for their complicity.

Signatories:

  1. BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
  2. The Global Palestinian Refugee and IDP Network (GPRN) – 39 Organization
  3. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
  4. Plataforma Córdoba con Palestina
  5. Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU)
  6. Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
  7. Collectif Palestine Vaincra
  8. Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
  9. The Palestine Committee in Norway
  10. Centre for Global Education
  11. The Palestinian Disability Coalition
  12. Trinity BDS
  13. Edmonton Small Press Association
  14. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  15. Asociación Paz con Dignidad
  16. Palestine Solidarity Alliance South Africa
  17. BDS Madrid
  18. Taafi
  19. AKAHATA – Argentina
  20. Palestine Updates/Badayl
  21. Baladi Center for Culture & Arts
  22. Indiana Center for Middle East Peace
  23. Xinye Public Interest Service Central
  24. International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
  25. International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-IJAN AntiJAN Argentina
  26. Union of Students in Ireland
  27. Makan
  28. IJAN, INTERNATIONAL JEWISH ANTIZIONIST NETWORK, Spain
  29. International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)-Canada
  30. Sexual Rights Initiative
  31. Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearos
  32. Northern rivers friends of Palestine
  33. Australians for Palestine
  34. Free Palestine Coalition Naarm
  35. Muslim Counterpublics Lab
  36. Sare Lesbianista
  37. Palestinarekiko Erantzukizuna
  38. Association of Young Democrats
  39. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía- APDHA
  40. Center for the Study of Islam and Decoloniality
  41. JUST-IS Interfaith Solidarity against Global Militarism and for Social Justice
  42. TU Dublin Students’ Union
  43. NACIÓN ANDALUZA
  44. BDS Almería
  45. Mujeres de Negro de Isbilya
  46. Ontario Palestinian Rights Association
  47. Canada Palestine Association
  48. European Legal Support Center (ELSC)
  49. Lajee Center
  50. Lajee Celtic
  51. Loud Jew Collective
  52. Comhlamh Justice for Palestine
  53. Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign
  54. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network
  55. Jews Against the Occupation ’48 Australia
  56. Tzedek Collective
  57. International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
    (EAFORD)
  58. Save Our Sacred Lands (SOSL)
  59. Comhaltas na Mac Léinn Ollscoil na Gaillimhe, University of Galway Students’ Union
  60. Housing and Land Rights Network – Habitat International Coalition
  61. MNEMTY ANTI RACISM IN TUNISIA
  62. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in Southwest Asia and
    North Africa (WHRDMENA)
  63. Solidarity Rising
  64. Equipo de Implementación del Decenio Afrodescendiente en España
  65. Uhuru Valencia
  66. Gaza Action Ireland
  67. Movimento Solidaridade Sahara Occidental-Timor Leste
  68. Poitiers Palestine
  69. The Canadian BDS Coalition
  70. Portuguese Friendship Association with Western Sahara (AAPSO)
  71. BDS Murcia
  72. Conférération syndicale des forces productives – COSYFOP
  73. Pax Christi Victoria
  74. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network
  75. Algerian League for the Defense of Human Rights
  76. Union of Solidarity teachers of Higher Education
  77. Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development
  78. Movement for Liberation from Nakba (MLN)
  79. Botsotso
  80. Palestine Land Society
  81. Iraqi Narratives Project
  82. Syndicat des Enseignants du Supérieur Solidaires (SESS)
  83. International Platform of Jurists for East Timor
  84. Workers for Palestine NL
  85. India Palestine Friendship Forum
  86. IPSN – India
  87. Seva Vardhini
  88. Indo-Palestine Solidarity Network
  89. Student Christian Movement of India
  90. Liverpool Friends of Palestine
  91. Presentation sisters
  92. IPA – India
  93. The Palestinian Association for Human Rights (Witness)
  94. Human development center
  95. Fraternity Association for Social and Cultural Work- Beirut Center
  96. Human Call Association
  97. Nuwat Association Social Solidarity Center
  98. AWID
  99. Tiro Association for Arts (TAA)
  100. Al-JANA Center
  101. Psychological and Social Development Association – Al Jalazon Refugee Camp
  102. Center for refugee rights – Aidoun
  103. Al-Hadaf KC
  104. Majed Abu Sharar Media Foundation (MASMF)
  105. Collective urgence Palestine
  106. Nahr Al-Bared Refugee Camp Youth
  107. Askar refugee camp’s Women Center
  108. The Popular Committee for Services in Tulkarm refugee camp
  109. BDS ALMERÍA
  110. National Institution of Social Care and Vocational Training
  111. Al Houla Association
  112. PUSWP Bethlehem branch
  113. Kangaroo Sports Club – Lebanon
  114. Al Karmel Sport Center
  115. CPCCO – USA
  116. Al Houla Association
  117. Jaén con Palestina
  118. Cairdeas Falasteen Chonamara
  119. Azania Section of the Fourth International
  120. Ibdaa Foundation for Child Development
  121. Jouthor Association

البيان متاح باللغة العربية عبر هذا الرابط
El comunicado español disponible aquí
Die deutsche Stellungnahme finden Sie hier
La déclaration est disponible en français via
Il comunicato è disponibile in italiano tramite

Categories
Statement

Justice for Palestine: we will not be deterred nor silenced 

In light of the heinous actions of the State of Israel against the Palestinian people, and the extension of its oppressive structures onto Palestinians and their supporters in Europe, the ELSC expresses its unwavering solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation and justice against colonial oppression and apartheid. As a legal organisation supporting the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe, we stand alongside all those who are carrying the cause, taking a stand and challenging the violent complicity of European states and institutions that enables Israel’s ceaseless colonial violence and its seemingly ever-lasting impunity.  

As we stand witness to the most atrocious crimes against humanity, with our Palestinian partners and independent experts warning of the crime of genocide against the Palestinian people, we are witnessing a serious increase of anti-Palestinian racism in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). 

The large demonstrations taking place in many European cities, despite outrageous attempts to ban and repress solidarity in many places with extreme force, have shown that people are undeterred and refuse to be silenced. Now as ever, we reiterate our support to all advocates for Palestinian rights in the EU and the UK who are facing censorship, smear campaigns, sanctions, racist attacks and despicable police brutality. 

We recall that the right to resist and struggle for freedom from colonialism, apartheid and foreign occupation, and to speak up against decades-long human rights violations, is fundamental and protected by law

At the ELSC, we are currently devoting all our efforts to monitoring all forms of repression against the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe, including the UK. We are receiving numerous reports and requests but due to our limited resources (human and financial), we are intervening in support of the most urgent cases and connecting those facing incidents of repression to our network of lawyers. All communication is registered and we are coordinating support.  

At this critical moment, we urge you to: 

  • Report all incidents of repression and request support here: https://elsc.support/intake
  • Stay safe by consulting the ‘know your rights’ resources below if you are engaging in protests, direct actions or posting online. Follow along for the ELSC’s ‘know your rights’ resources
  • Send any footage or video showing repression to info@elsc.support, including the location and date of the incident
  • Report anti-Palestinian content online to 7amleh here in Arabic and here in English 
  • Donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians, which is responding to the current emergency in Gaza 
  • If you can support our work with a financial contribution, please donate to the ELSC
  • If you would like to volunteer with us, please complete this form
  • For translators and interpreters, please apply here to volunteer

‘KNOW YOUR RIGHTS’ RESOURCES 

Germany:

UK:

The Netherlands:

Italy:

France:

ONLINE

If you are threatened or harassed online, check this guide by CrimethInc on Prevention and Aftercare for Those Targeted by Doxxing and Political Harassment

10 things to remember when reporting on Palestine by PIPD 

Categories
Statement

ELSC Statement: No to the Nakba Demo Bans, End Germany’s Criminalisation of Palestinian Existence 

In another act of state repression, the Berlin police banned all events commemorating 75 years of ongoing Nakba. Following the demonstration ban from 2022, the police disrupted a Palestinian cultural event on 13 May in Neukölln, banning any political public speech, attempting to stop the distribution of books on Palestine on a discretionary basis, and preventing attendees from dancing the traditional Dabka, claiming that it was a form of “political expression”. One of the banned speeches was to be delivered by a member of the ELSC and a partner scholar, Anna Younes (PhD), with the purpose of informing people on their legal rights. Other events that were banned were scheduled for 13, 14 and 20 May 2023: these demonstrations wanted to demand justice for the Palestinian people by remembering the displacement and ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the course of the founding of the state of Israel. At least 11 demonstrations on the Nakba have been banned in Berlin since April 2022. 

The justification for the bans is informed by a systematic pattern of anti-Palestinian racism criminalising solidarity with the Palestinian cause for freedom and return, as well as expressions of Palestinian identity. May 2022 already saw immense state repression against Palestinians and their supporters, when the Berlin police preventively banned five registered events commemorating 74 years of ongoing Nakba and honouring Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was murdered by Israeli Occupation Forces while reporting on their invasion of Jenin refugee camp. When individuals peacefully took to the streets to express their solidarity, the Berlin police unleashed a campaign of harassment arresting and beating activists for wearing the Palestinian scarf known as the Kuffiyeh or for being dressed in the colours of the Palestinian flag.  

These anti-democratic measures are enacted as a form of collective punishment directed at anything visibly Palestinian, extending to any expression of collective memory and rights advocacy as seen through the recent bans of demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners in Berlin and beyond. Palestinians in exile commemorating their tragedy, and more generally Arab participants in the demonstrations are dehumanised and framed in the colonial tradition as ”highly emotionalised men” who would “glorify violence” and are “difficult to control”. Neukölln is placed under general suspicion and depicted as a harbour of violence, based on the racist criminalisation of its predominantly migrant, particularly Arab population. The allegations and language used in the prohibition orders, both in 2022 and in 2023, express blatant racism and, in particular, constitute Anti-Palestinian racism – a form of anti-Arab racism that aims to silence, exclude, erase, stereotype, or defame Palestinians and their narratives – towards the Palestinian community in Germany. 

Attacks against the Palestine solidarity movement are ever-growing as Germany upholds its unconditional support for the Israeli occupation and continues to whitewash crimes of apartheid and settler violence. The Berlin government’s actions around Nakba Day reflect Germany’s complicity in the continuing oppression of the Palestinian people, and further constitute a wider assault on the fundamental rights of free speech and assembly. This must be read as a dangerous precedent for further arbitrary curtailments of basic democratic rights. 

These bans are an attack on all of us. The ELSC stands in solidarity with all Palestinians and supporters of the Palestinian cause. As further Palestine solidarity events are planned in the coming days in Berlin, we call on all stakeholders to join us in demanding the protection of the most fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and to support the campaign launched in defence of these rights for Palestinians and their supporters in Germany. 

If you, your group, organisation or otherwise have been intimidated, slandered, repressed, censored or banned from speaking out or participating in Palestine advocacy, or if you have questions about your rights, please reach out to us and complete the incident form

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Statement

Joint Statement: Israeli Apartheid – The Legacy of the Ongoing Nakba at 75

The ELSC signed this joint statement initiated by Al-Haq at the occasion of the commemoration of 75 years after Nakba in Palestine.

Seventy-five years have passed since the Palestinian people were ethnically cleansed and forcibly expelled from their homes, lands, and property in their ancestral land during the 1948 Nakba (meaning ‘catastrophe’ in Arabic). Palestinian society was decimated during the Nakba, 531 Palestinian villages were destroyed, and more than 70 massacres were carried out against innocent civilians, killing more than 15 thousand Palestinians between 1947 and 1949. The legacy of the Nakba events is that about two-thirds of the Palestinian people became refugees in and around 1948 and a quarter of those who remained within historic Palestine geography were internally displaced and denied their right to return to their villages, towns, and cities of origin ever since.

Since 1948, Israel established a regime of racial domination and oppression over the Palestinian people primarily in the domains of nationality and land. In the immediate aftermath of the Nakba, Israel adopted a series of laws, policies, and practices, which sealed the dispossession of the indigenous Palestinian people, systematically denying the return of Palestinian refugees and other Palestinians who were abroad at the time of the war. At the same time, Israel imposed a system of institutionalized racial discrimination over Palestinians who remained on the land, many of whom had been internally displaced. Such Israeli laws have constituted the legal architecture of the Israeli apartheid that continue to be imposed on the Palestinian people today.

The 1950 so-called ‘Absentee Property’ Law became the main legal instrument of dispossession. Israel used it to confiscate the property of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons, who were deemed ‘absentees’ despite the State denying their return. Seventy-five years later, this ‘Absentee Property’ Law continues to advance Israel’s Judaization of parts of the West Bank including the city of Jerusalem and to alter its Palestinian character, demographic composition and identity.

In turn, the 1950 Law of Return and the 1952 Citizenship Law cemented Israel’s institutionalized racial discrimination in law. Establishing domination, both in law and in practice, Israel granted every Jew the exclusive right to enter the State as an immigrant and to obtain citizenship. At the same time, Palestinian refugees have been categorically denied their right to return, to their homes, lands, and property from which they were illegally dispossessed.

Such Israeli laws compose the legal foundation of Israeli apartheid, perpetuating its systematic racial domination and oppression over all Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line, and refugees and exiles. Seven and a half decades on, Israel has strategically fragmented the Palestinian people into at least four separate geographic, legal, political, and administrative domains as a tool to impose and maintain apartheid. Israel’s strategic fragmentation of the Palestinian people ensures that they cannot meet, group, live together, or exercise any collective rights, particularly their right to self-determination and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. Strategic fragmentation is further entrenched through the illegal closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip, the Annexation Wall, and Israel’s permit regime consisting of checkpoints and other physical barriers, severely impacting the freedom of movement of Palestinians.

As we commemorate 75 years since the Nakba, the Israeli government continues its de jure and de facto annexation of the West Bank, which represents the continuation of Israel’s land grab, pillage, and displacement of Palestinians through the maintenance of its apartheid. As reaffirmed by successive United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, Israel’s continued annexation plans are a testament to Israel’s 21st-century apartheid, leaving in its wake the demise of the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.

The crimes of the Nakba, including the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of Palestinian refugees, extensive destruction of Palestinian property, mass killing, and the prolonged denial of Palestinian refugees’ right to return, have never been prosecuted or remedied. Just five years ago, the Israeli occupying forces, implementing its shoot-to-kill policy, mass killed some 60 unarmed Palestinian protesters in the Gaza Strip on the eve of the 70th Nakba commemoration. The injustices of the Nakba and the ongoing denial of the right of return led to the Great Return March civil demonstrations every Friday in Gaza for two years, which Israel repressed with lethal force, with impunity.

This year, as Palestinians commemorate the 75th Nakba, Israel’s most right-wing and racist government intensifies its oppression of the Palestinian people, including daily raids and extrajudicial killings in the West Bank including East Jerusalem. On 9 May, Israel carried out a 5-day horrific unprovoked military assault on the 16-year besieged Gaza Strip targeting residential buildings resulting in the killing of 33 Palestinian civilians, some of them in their sleep, including six children and four women. In addition, 147 others were wounded, including 48 children and 26 women.

On Nakba Day, we call on States, the UN, international organisations and civil society organisations from around the world to take effective legal and political measures to bring perpetrators of suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Situation in Palestine. The ICC Prosecutor Mr Karim Khan must expedite his investigation and start issuing arrest warrants, and deliver justice to Palestinian victims of mass atrocity crimes.

At this critical juncture in the Palestinian struggle for self-determination, support is also needed for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) until a durable solution to the Palestinian refugee question, based on the full realization of the Palestinian people’s inalienable human rights.

Finally, we call on all stakeholders to recognize and join the human rights movement crystalising consensus that the situation on the ground is that of Apartheid imposed on the Palestinian people. There are many possible paths to a just future, but none should be based on permanent occupation, settler colonialism, and the domination and oppression by one group of people over another. Apartheid has no place in our world and Israel’s apartheid must be dismantled now.

ENDS

See how the Nakba has transformed Palestine since 1948 with this map by Visualizing Palestine marking the Nakba at 75: https://today.visualizingpalestine.org/?blm_aid=8507392

1. Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Mankind (Al-Haq)

2. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association (Addameer)

3. Al Dameer Association for Human Rights

4. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan)

5. Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ)

6. Arab Center for Agricultural Development

7. Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)- France

8. Association of Women Committees for Social Work (AWCSW)

9. Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ)

10. Cairo Institute For Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)

11. Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights “Hurryyat”

12. Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem (CCPRJ)

13. Defender Center for Human Rights (Libya)

14. Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-Palestine)

15. Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)

16. Djiboutian League of Human Rights (LDDH)

17. European Legal Support Center (ELSC)

18. European Saudi Organization for Human Rights (ESOHR)

19. Forum Tunisien pour les droits Économiques et sociaux (FTDES)

20. Groningen for Palestine (GfP)

21. Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network

22. Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”

23. International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP)

24. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

25. International Institute for Nonviolent Action (NOVACT)

26. Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI)

27. Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center (JLAC)

28. La ligue Algérienne pour La Défense des droits de l’homme

29. Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos, Limeddh- Mexico

30. Mwatana for Human Rights (Yemen)

31. OPEN ASIA|Armanshahr Foundation

32. Palestine Solidarity Campaign –  South Africa (Gauteng)

33. Palestine Solidarity Campaign – South Africa (Cape Town)

34. Palestine Solidarity Campaign – UK

35. Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development (PWWSD)

36. Pan-African Palestine Solidarity Network (PAPSN)

37. Platform of French NGOs for Palestine

38. Riposte Internationale

39. South African BDS Coalition

40. South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP)

41. Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)

42. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH

43.The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)

44. The Rights Forum

45. Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)

Categories
Statement

On International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, 96 organisations stand with Palestinian political prisoners

On International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we joined a statement along with more than 90 organisations. The statement, initiated by Palestinian human rights organisation Addameer, shows support to Palestinian political prisoners and civil society and demands an end to the Israeli occupation authorities’ arbitrary policies.

This International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Addameer calls on the international community to demonstrate support for Palestinian political prisoners, both directly with the actions of the Palestinian Prisoner Movement, as well as through demanding an end to the Israeli occupation authorities’ arbitrary policies and practices of deprivation of liberty; administrative detention, inhumane prison conditions and a crackdown on civil society activism, all of which serve to construct and maintain the Israeli apartheid regime.

The year 2022 has been the deadliest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2015. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the Israeli occupying forces have killed over 200 Palestinians so far- 51 of that number are children, the majority shot by Israeli forces or armed settlers in the occupied West Bank. At the same time, in August 2022, Israel launched yet another aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, during which 49 Palestinians, including 17 children, were killed, and another 335 were injured.

As recent Israeli elections recorded a swing to the far-right and the targeting of activists and peaceful protesters has vastly increased, the conditions for Palestinian prisoners mirror those on the ground. Currently, 4760 Palestinian political prisoners are held in Israeli occupation prisons, including 160 children and 33 women. Of that number, 820 are administrative detainees, held without charge or trial based on undisclosed “secret information,” four of whom are children and three are women.

Over the last two years, Addameer has documented a significant and rapid increase in Israel’s use of administrative detention, not only as a tool to quash legitimate civil resistance and civic work against the Israeli settler-colonial and apartheid regime but as a form of control and intimidation over the Palestinian people as a whole. From within prisons, Palestinian political prisoners and detainees have used the tools available to them to stand up against the systemic discrimination and violation of their basic rights, engaging in individual and collective hunger strikes, abstentions from medical treatment, and a collective boycott of military courts.

Recently, renowned international human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have built on the work and research of Palestinian civil society in recognising Israel’s policies and practices of domination, fragmentation and oppression against Palestinians amount to apartheid. International criminal law defines apartheid as a crime against humanity committed through inhumane acts “in the context of an institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group” with the intention of maintaining such a regime. Israel’s establishment of dual bodies of law discriminately governing people based on nationality, and the unequal application of administrative detention, through which thousands of Palestinians have been incarcerated for security offenses in comparison to a “handful” of Israelis, was highlighted by Human Rights Watch as a specific modality of its apartheid regime.

Administrative Detention and the Palestinian Prisoner Movement

Administrative detention, a colonial practice first used by the British Mandate and reappropriated by the Israeli regime, is the indefinite imprisonment of individuals, without trial or charge, whom Israel alleges may pose a future “risk to the security of the area.” The decision is made based on “secret information,” which is neither disclosed to the detainee nor their lawyer. The inherent structure of Israeli military courts, in which Israeli military officers serve as the judge and prosecutor, ruling following Israeli military orders issued by the Israeli military commander precludes any independence and impartiality, violating the essence of fair trial guarantees. It is therefore impossible to mount a defence. A person can initially be detained for six months; however, this order can be extended indefinitely. Detainees, therefore, have no idea when they will be released; taking a major psychological toll on them and their families.

Despite its blatant violation of fair trial standards, Israel acts with impunity and is indiscriminate in the use of administrative detention; targeting university students, former prisoners, children, and vulnerable individuals. The year 2021 saw a surge of 1,695 administrative detention orders, concentrated in May and June, as part of Israel’s campaign of mass arbitrary arrests following the escalation of aggression against the Palestinian people across the occupied territories. On 12 May 2021 alone, the homes of almost 60 Palestinians, a group constituted of journalists, activists, and Palestinian Legislative Council candidates were raided and arrested- 25 of this group were transferred to administrative detention. Between January to October 2022, Israeli occupation authorities issued around 1,789 administrative detention, already surpassing the number of orders from last year. Further, Israel is increasingly renewing detention orders as a method of suppression, ensuring that prisoners remain detained; between June and October 2022, there were 628 renewal orders and 452 new orders.

In January 2022, all Palestinian administrative detainees, around 500 at that time, initiated a collective boycott of the Israeli military judicial system. The detainees refused to participate in military court proceedings at all levels, and their legal counsel did not appear on their behalf. The boycott called for an end to administrative detention. Officially, the collective military court boycott ended in July 2022; however, many detainees continue their boycott, emphasizing the lack of trust in any judicial process and fair trial guarantees under the Israeli judicial system. As Israeli military judges refuse to acknowledge the protest, military court hearings and judicial reviews of administrative detention orders continue to be held in the absence of the detainees.

Hunger strikes have long been used as a peaceful and legitimate means to demand basic rights. During 2021, Addameer documented an increasing number of 60 detainees undertaking hunger strikes- many of whom sustained permanent health consequences or imminent threats to life. In August this year, Palestinian detainee Khalil Awadeh ended his 172-day hunger strike. The following month, 30 detainees, including Palestinian-French human rights lawyer Salah Hammouri, launched an open hunger strike in protest of administrative detention. The hunger strike was suspended in October, following an agreement with Israeli occupation authorities to prioritise discussions on administrative detention and release elderly and sick detainees by the end of the year. The latter has yet to act on this promise.

Methods of Oppression of Palestinian Prisoners

Any resistance from the Palestinian Prisoner Movement is in the face of a brutal apparatus of unlawful policy, systematically wielded with absolute impunity to quash Palestinian spirits inside prison. Whilst administrative detention is one of Israel’s most unjust policies, it is just one of the cruel processes levied on Palestinian prisoners. Once arrested, detainees are regularly subjected to physical, positional, and psychological torture, a practice effectively legalised through which “physical pressure” is permissible in situations of “necessity.” Beatings, solitary confinement, and sleep deprivation are also used. Such practices are regularly obscured through the complicity of medical professionals, and military courts, a point documented by Addameer in its Cell No.26 report this year.

The torture and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners are not limited to interrogation and are a threat levied on prisoners throughout their incarceration. Prison raids are well-documented, and used as a form of collective punishment by the Israeli Prison Services (“IPS”); systematically exploiting any excuse to deploy special forces into prisons to attack and harass Palestinian prisoners and detainees. In September 2021, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the high-security Gilboa prison. The escaped detainees were eventually remanded, but not before the IPS embarked upon a campaign of collective punishment against all Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. 350 prisoners were transferred to unknown locations (notwithstanding that the illegal forcible transfer of protected persons from occupied territory into the occupying state constitutes unlawful deportation in contravention of international law). A lockdown on all prisons and detention centres was implemented, denying prisoners access to lawyers and family visits, in addition to conducting violent raids.

Designation of Addameer as a “Terrorist” Organization

Further, Israel has employed new methods to restrict those acting to defend the rights of Palestinians. On 19 October 2021, Addameer, along with five other Palestinian civil society organisations, was designated as “terrorist” organisations by the Israeli Minister of “Defense.” The offices of the six organisations based in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah were raided by the Israeli occupying forces the following year. The designation, which has a profound impact on the safety of both the organisations’ staff and service users, is the latest event in Israel’s crackdown on Palestinian civic space and targeted campaign to silence Palestinian voices. The designation has been widely condemned by the international community, including the United Nations and European Union, for its attack on legitimate human rights work and lack of evidential basis. Despite this, Israel has refused to amend its position. As long as the designation remains in place, Addameer’s work in providing crucial legal representation for Palestinian prisoners, as well as documenting human rights abuses to hold Israel accountable on an international scale, remains at risk. Without the presence of civil society organisations, Palestinian prisoners lose vital support on the ground.

While various UN experts have attempted to hold Israel to account, it has repeatedly refused to abide by international law principles and engage with their demands. As a concluding remark, we recall the case of Ahmad Manasra, arrested in 2015 at the age of 13, and has been detained in Israeli occupation prison since. His publicly circulated violent interrogation drew widespread condemnation. Following years of imprisonment, including sustained periods of solitary confinement, medical reports have found that Ahmad now suffers from serious mental health problems, including schizophrenia and suicidal ideation.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly rejected requests for Ahmad’s release, citing the retrospectively applied counter-terrorism law as a reason preventing his early release. UN human rights experts have called for Ahmad’s release, saying:

“Ahmad’s imprisonment for almost six years has deprived him of childhood, family environment, protection, and all the rights he should have been guaranteed as a child. This case is haunting in many respects and his continuous detention, despite his deteriorating mental conditions, is a stain on all of us as part of the international human rights community […] To Ahmad we say, we regret we failed to protect you”

The impunity with which Israel is able to commit systematic human rights violations must end, before we fail to protect the Palestinian people, including prisoners. Amidst an aggravating political climate, the situation for Palestinian prisoners is only worsening. Addameer seeks to amplify the Palestinian Prisoner Movement’s demands to end Israel’s systematic and widespread reliance on administrative detention on the international stage; without this work, Israel’s regime will further isolate and silence the voices of Palestinian prisoners. Vocal international solidarity with the movement is urgent and essential. It should further extend, not only to the civil society organisations who work to document and amplify the struggles of prisoners but through condemnation of Israeli apartheid and its use of administrative detention as a method of oppression.

Local Organizations:

  1. Academics for Palestine- Concordia University, Montreal (Canada)
  2. Al Dameer Association for Human Rights (Palestine)
  3. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Palestine)
  4. Al Salam Förening (Sweden)
  5. Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man (Palestine)
  6. Applied Research Institute- Jerusalem (ARIJ) (Palestine)
  7. Arab Women Organization for Jordan (Jordan)
  8. Baltimore Nonviolence Center (U.S.A)
  9. BDS Mexico (Mexico)
  10. BDS Vancouver/ Coast Salish Territories (Canada)
  11. Bisan Centre for Research and Development (Palestine)
  12. Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver (Canada)  
  13. Center for Defense of Liberties & Civil Rights “HURRYYAT” (Palestine)
  14. Chrysalis Theatre Incorporated (UK)
  15. Coalició Prou Complicitat amb Israel (Catalonia)
  16. Collectif Palestine Vaincra (France)
  17. Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe (Spain)
  18. Comité Universitario Solidaridad Pueblo Palestino (Mexico)
  19. Community Action Center, Al-Quds University (Palestine)
  20. Defense for Children International- Palestine (Palestine)
  21. Gaza Action Ireland (Ireland)
  22. Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights (U.S.A)
  23. Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS” (Palestine)
  24. Indian Association of Lawyers (India)
  25. Lebanese Women Democratic Gathering (RDFL) (Lebanon)
  26. NYU Law Students for Justice in Palestine (U.S.A)
  27. Oakville Palestinian Rights Association (Canada)
  28. Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (New Zealand)
  29. Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) (Canada)
  30. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (Palestine)
  31. Palestinian Prisoners Society (Palestine)
  32. Regina Peace Council (Canada)
  33. SANA for Special Individuals (Jordan)
  34. Swedish Friends of the Freedom Theatre (Sweden)
  35. The Freedom Theatre (Palestine)
  36. The Palestine Institute for Public Democracy (Palestine)
  37. The Palestine Performing Arts Network (Palestine)
  38. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH (Palestine)
  39. The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) (Palestine)
  40. The Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (Palestine)
  41. Union of Agricultural Work Committees (Palestine)
  42. Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (Palestine)

Regional Organizations:

  1. ACAT-France
  2. Arab Network for Civic Education- ANHRE
  3. Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)
  4. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
  5. California Coalition for Women Prisoners
  6. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
  7. Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) Victoria
  8. Comunitat Palestina de Catalunya
  9. Corporación Jurídica Libertad
  10. European Legal Support Center (ELSC)
  11. Freedom Archives
  12. Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theater
  13. GreaterToronto4BDS
  14. Harvard Advocates for Human Rights
  15. Human Rights for Law (HR4A) Saskatchewan
  16. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
  17. Irídia – Center for the Defense of Human Rights
  18. Jewish Network for Palestine
  19. Jewish Voices for Peace
  20. Justice Peace Advocates/ Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
  21. Law Students for Justice in Palestine, Georgetown Law
  22. Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
  23. Palestine House
  24. Project South
  25. Rising Tide North America
  26. RootsAction Education Fund
  27. Socialist Action/ Ligue pour l’Action Socialiste
  28. Students for Justice in Palestine, Chicago
  29. The Canadian BDS Coalition
  30. U.S Palestinian Community Network
  31. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USPCR)

International Organizations:

  1. Africa4Palestine
  2. Arab Organization for Human Rights
  3. Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)
  4. ATL Jenine
  5. Critical Resistance
  6. Early Childhood Development Intercultural Partnerships
  7. European Jews for a Just Peace (EJJP)
  8. Eyewitness Palestine
  9. International Organization for the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (EAFORD)
  10. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
  11. Kali_Feminists
  12. National Students for Justice in Palestine
  13. NOVACT- International Institute for Nonviolent Action
  14. Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos
  15. Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK
  16. Paz con Dignidad
  17. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  18. SUDS – Associació Internacional de Solidaritat i Cooperació
  19. The Freedom Theater
  20. United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR)
  21. War on Want
  22. World BEYOND War

See the original publication on Addameer’s website.

Categories
Statement

ELSC will be back on Twitter soon 

Dear followers, 

As some of you may have noticed, the ELSC’s Twitter account has been down since last week. We want to reassure you that this is due to technical reasons only and that we are doing our best to get our page back as soon as possible. The current situation unfolding at Twitter and the ensuing staff shortages might explain why some processes seem to have considerably lengthened and why our problem has not been fixed yet.  

We apologise for the inconvenience and, in the meantime, we encourage you to keep up to date by following us on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to our monthly newsletter here

We hope to find you back on Twitter soon! 

In solidarity, 

The ELSC 


Icon: Cc Jurgen Appelo (Flickr)

Categories
Statement

Joint Statement in Response to Dismissal of NUS President Shaima Dallali

The ELSC signed a joint statement with other organisations in the UK to condemn the dismissal of NUS Shaima Dallali.

We are dismayed to see that the NUS’ investigation into their elected president, Shaima Dallali, has been allowed to reach this conclusion.

The disciplinary investigation into Ms. Dallali was triggered after pressure from the Government and the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) which led to a wider investigation into antisemitism within the NUS. We, amongst a range of legal, community, student and rights organisations have raised questions about the credibility of this process as a genuine anti-racist exercise. The dismissal of Ms. Dallali, and the discrimination which we consider that she has been subjected to, only exacerbates these concerns. We understand that Ms. Dallali is considering her right to appeal the dismissal and to bring Tribunal proceedings over the NUS’ treatment and dismissal of her.

We recognise the considerable political pressure put on the NUS to initiate and reach ‘the right result’ in these two investigatory processes. However, in bowing to this pressure, the NUS has undermined its own commitment to anti-racism, including the fight against antisemitism, and has abandoned its duty of care to its elected President. Ms. Dallali has been subjected to the most intense public scrutiny and horrifying abuse, including death threats. This is not the first time a Muslim woman of colour has had her social media trawled, her internet presence scrutinised, and her ability to do her elected role obstructed by a media-stoked outrage that ends up conflating legitimate criticisms of Israel with antisemitism. Unfortunately for Ms. Dallali, her grave concerns over her safety have been completely side-lined.

The refusal to accept Ms. Dallali’s unreserved apology for one tweet from a decade ago when she was a teenager, while publicising a number of spurious allegations around her support for Palestinian rights, speaks volumes about the nature of the NUS’ investigation. The fact that the decision to dismiss Ms. Dallali was leaked and published in the Jewish News and the Jewish Chronicle, and reportedly shared with the Government and the Leader of the Opposition, before she had even been notified, is wholly inappropriate and beggars belief.

From the outset of the dual investigations, we raised fundamental concerns about the framework for investigation and the failure to acknowledge how conflation of antisemitism with legitimate critique of Israeli oppression has been utilised to silence Palestinians and those who support their rights. The inclusion, for example, amongst the published allegations against Ms. Dallali, that she had tweeted ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ and had participated in a protest at KCL against the presence on campus of a former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, made clear a failure from the outset to distinguish between genuine antisemitism and legitimate advocacy for the rights of Palestinians.

We have also raised concerns about the disproportionate involvement of the UJS, who were given significant authority in the framing of the investigation and the appointment of the Independent Investigator. Whilst we recognise the need for the NUS to consult with a body representing Jewish students in addressing concerns about antisemitism, the degree of prioritisation of a single interested party violates due process.

It also fails to take into account the role the UJS has played in the conflation of antisemitism and legitimate critique of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people, including promoting resources which suggest that it is inherently antisemitic to advocate for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel or to describe Israel as a state practising the crime of apartheid.

In this regard we note that the formal disciplinary process against Ms. Dallali was, in part, triggered by her public statements criticising Israel for its discriminatory laws and policies, and her calling out of the UJS on social media, prior to being elected president, for its evidenced activities aiming to silence advocacy for Palestinian rights. It is deeply concerning that criticism of the UJS for its overtly political pro-Israel advocacy has been reframed as evidence of hostility to all Jewish students, and thereby seen as grounds for dismissal.

Whilst we await the report into the broader investigation, Ms. Dallali’s dismissal renews our deep concerns that its likely outcome, rather than combatting the very real problem of antisemitism, will instead contribute to anti-Palestinian racism and the silencing of legitimate advocacy for Palestine.

In responding to this situation in this manner, we believe the NUS has made a series of misjudgments and reached an outcome that does precisely the opposite of its purported aim. It needs to embark on the significant task facing it to repair the damage done by this investigation and rebuild trust with students who are doing crucial anti-racism work, including those advocating for Palestinian rights and working to combat Islamophobia and antisemitism.

Signatories:

Palestine Solidarity Campaign

British Palestinian Committee

Diaspora Alliance

European Legal Support Centre

Muslim Association of Britain

Palestinian Forum in Britain

Categories
Statement

Statement Regarding BSR’s Human Rights Due Diligence for Meta on Palestine & Israel

7amleh, along with 73 of local, regional and international partners – including the ELSC – has issued a joint statement regarding BSR’s Human Rights Due Diligence report on Arabic and Hebrew content on Meta’s platform. Human rights organizations and civil society have been calling for an independent review of Meta’s content moderation policies as they pertain to Palestine for years, so we commend the publication of this report.

Read on 7amleh’s website

We, the undersigned human rights and civil society organizations, commend the publication of Business for Social Responsibility’s (BSR) Human Rights Due Diligence Report of Arabic and Hebrew content on Meta’s platforms in the Israel/Palestine context in May 2021. For years, digital and human rights organizations have been calling for an independent review of Meta’s content moderation policies. These calls came as a result of Meta’s constant and deliberate actions to censor the voices and narrative of Palestinians and those in solidarity with them. Thus, denying Palestinians their right to freedom of expression, affecting their freedom of assembly and freedom to political participation and non-discrimination and further distorting the international community’s understanding of what is happening in Palestine. 

We appreciate and value BSR’s efforts and professionalism through their assessment and independent review. We especially acknowledge their engagement with local, regional and international stakeholders and right-holders throughout the process. Launching this due diligence report is a step in the right direction. importantly, we look forward to Meta’s unequivocal commitment to implementing the recommendations of this report. More generally, we urge Meta to take decisive action to protect the voices of Palestinians among other oppressed peoples and groups around the world. 

BSR’s findings provide further evidence of the over-enforcement of Arabic content compared to Hebrew content, and under-enforcement of content moderation policies on Hebrew language content. The latter was, according to BSR, “largely due to the lack of a Hebrew classifier,” some of these problems have been documented for years by 7amleh, The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media. Furthermore, the report cites adverse human rights implications to Palestinians’ right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom to political participation, and non-discrimination. BSR also found evidence of Meta’s policies and practices leading to biased outcomes, which negatively impact Palestinian and Arabic speaking users.

Notwithstanding our support for much of BSR’s work, we must provide some important caveats that would help Meta address these problems more systemically. First, BSR distinguishes between intentional and unintentional bias, and states that it only found evidence of unintentional bias in Meta’s policies and practices. However, we have been calling Meta’s attention to the disproportionately negative impact of its content moderation on Palestinians for years. Therefore, even if the bias started out as unintentional, after knowing about the issues for years and not taking appropriate action, the unintentional became intentional. 

Furthermore, though BSR accurately identified many root causes of the over-enforcement of content moderation on Palestinian and Arabic content, they have underestimated the role of the Israeli government. The Israeli cyber unit sends tens of thousands of voluntary content takedown requests annually to Meta, and the company has historically complied around 90% of the time. This is only one example of many that highlights Israel’s special relationship with Meta, despite the extensive documentation and evidence by international, Palestinian and Israeli human rights groups, of Israel’s systematic, multidimensional violation of Palestinian human rights. Israel leverages this relationship to pressure Meta to take down Palestinian content, as Defense Minister Benny Gantz publicly did during the May 2021 uprisings

In an effort to ensure Meta fulfills its human rights obligations, BSR recommends a series of steps that also align with civil society’s repeated demands on Meta over the years. BSR stated that Meta should reevaluate certain content moderation policies, take substantial action to increase transparency around their content moderation practices and policies, invest in more precise Hebrew and Arabic language content moderation resources, and establish greater clarification around its legal obligations with regards to Foreign Terrorist Organizations and State Designated Global Terrorists. These recommendations are a step in the right direction, and need to be taken seriously by Meta. We call on Meta to provide complete transparency on voluntary content removal requests from the Israeli government, including its Cyber Unit, as well as where and how automated decision making are being used for content moderation, and about content policies related to the classification and moderation of “terrorism” and “extremism”. 

In addition to the report’s recommendations, 7amleh’s racism and hate speech index between 6th to the 21st May 2021 showed a 15-fold increase in violent speech compared to the same time period of the previous year. Thus, Meta must improve their Hebrew language content moderation by creating a Hebrew hate speech lexicon. 

Finally, these recommendations will only be successfully implemented if Meta truly commits to a co-design process with civil society, as well as if it provides a detailed timeline for exactly how they will commit to, and implement these recommendations in full transparency and in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Meta has stated that it is committed to co-design, therefore, we stand ready to work with them and we urge Meta to start the process as early as possible. 

Signatures 

7amleh- The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media

Access Now

Mnemonic

Just Vision

Makan

SMEX

Fight for the Future

Kandoo

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

Platform of French NGOs for Palestine

IFEX

Ranking Digital Rights

Visualizing Palestine

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH

Kayan Feminist organization

Women Against Violence

Council for Arab-British Understanding

Nederlands Palestina Komitee (NPK)

National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP)

Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State, Tunisia

Institute for Middle East Understanding

The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO)

The Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center-

Women Media and Development

Al-Haq

Palestinian vision

The Arab Culture Association

Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)

NOVACT

Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership & Rights Activation- PYALARA

Community Media Centre

U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Defence for Children International

Masaar – Technology & Law Community

Palestinian Center for policy research and strategic studies-MASARATtegic

Association Belgo-Palestinienne WB

Agriculture development association

Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP)

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICIES MONITOR (AL-MARSAD)

H&R Legal Office

The East Jerusalem YMCA

Media Matters for Democracy

The Palestinian Coalition for the Economic, social, and cultural rights – Adala

YWCA-Palestine

Nisaa Broadcasting Radio Company

Pcs

Arab American University

May First Movement Technology

Kairos Palestine

Burj Alluqluq Social Center Society

Jordan Open Source Association

Palestinian Counseling Center (PCC)

The Community Action Center / Al-Quds University

SumOfUs

Center for Constitutional Rights

Eyewitness Palestine

CODEPINK

Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales (R3D)

MediaJustice

Union juive française pour la paix

Adalah Justice Project

Action Center on Race & the Economy

Human Rights Watch

Palestinian Observatory for Fact-Checking and Media Literacy “Tahaqaq”

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

Association “Pour Jérusalem”

The Right to Education Campaign – Birzeit University

ECCP – European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine

Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient, Luxembourg

Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Association for Progressive Communications – APC

Categories
Statement

A joint statement on the case of the administratively detained Palestinian-French citizen Salah Hammouri

We call for immediate release and demand Israel rescind the decision to revoke his Jerusalem residency based on “secret evidence.”

ADD YOUR SIGNATURE ON LAW FOR PALESTINES WEBSITE

العربية | Français

We, the undersigned organizations, unions, and institutions, condemn and reject the arbitrary measures taken by the Israeli occupation forces against human rights defender and lawyer at Addameer, violating its obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law.

For many years, Salah Hammouri has been subjected to a continuous harassment campaign by the occupation forces due to his human rights activism. Mr. Hammouri has spent nine years in Israeli occupation prisons as a result of over six arrests. The longest stretch he spent in an occupation prison was seven continuous years between 2005 and 2011, after he was forced to choose between being deported to France for 15 years or imprisoned for 7. Since the beginning of March 2022, the Israeli occupation forces have held Mr. Hammouri in their prisons without charge under the administrative detention system, based on a secret file that even his lawyer is not permitted to view. These actions make his detention arbitrary and illegal under international law.

The occupation forces have taken several additional acts against Mr. Hammouri in attempt to deport him from Jerusalem. Most recently, in October 2021, they issued a decision to revoke his Jerusalem residency for charges of not showing loyalty to the State of Israel, which was also based on “secret evidence.” Thereafter, they have tried to enforce the decision by attempting to deport him to France; where he holds citizenship. Mr. Hammouri’s wife and children currently reside in France because the occupation authorities have prevented them from entering the occupied territories, thus depriving him of his right to have his family reside with him.

When Mr. Hammouri is released, he fears he will be forcibly removed and deported from his home city of Jerusalem. The Israeli Supreme Court is scheduled to hear Mr. Hammouri’s residency revocation case in February 2023.

The harmful actions taken against Mr.Hammouri are important to be understood for two primary reasons:

  • First, revoking his Jerusalem residency for not showing loyalty to the occupying state based on “secret evidence” represents an unprecedented Israeli measure against Arab and Palestinian presence in Jerusalem. This is a community that is already suffering from escalating settlement projects and attempts to Judaize the city by erasing Palestinian presence, despite the occupation’s illegality under international law. Passing this precedent against Mr. Hammouri means opening the door for the Israeli occupation forces to expel any Palestinian Jerusalemite from the city by revoking their Jerusalem residency based on purely “secret evidence.” This will provide a new, powerful tool for Israel to reduce the number of Palestinians in Jerusalem without needing to provide any legal justification.
  • Second, Mr. Hammouri is a target because he is a human rights defender and a lawyer for Palestinian prisoners. This means that Israel is waging a war against human rights defenders, both as individuals and groups, completing what it started by labelling six Palestinian human rights organizations as terrorist groups including Addameer where Mr. Hammouri works. In fact, Israel previously personally targeted Mr. Hammouri for being a human rights worker by hacking his mobile phone and installing Pegasus software developed by Israeli cybersecurity company NSO. Through these practices, Israel seeks to convey a message to all peaceful activists and human rights defenders that they have no immunity and can be subjected to family separation, arbitrary detention, and even expulsion from the country.

In addition, although Mr. Hammouri holds French citizenship, the French government has not played any effective role in pressing for his release from this arbitrary detention. The Israeli government recently placed Mr. Hammouri in a collective isolation confinement as a punishment for sending a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron asking him to help with his release. Since then, the French government has not taken any public action to assist him such as condemning the detention or calling on the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release him. Instead, they merely visited him and asked the Israeli government to “respect his rights.” These actions are clearly insufficient, not in line with the usual response of French authorities in cases of arbitrary detection of French citizens and does not demonstrate a strong enough political will to hold the Israeli authorities accountable.

Accordingly, the organizations, unions, institutions, and human rights bodies that have signed this statement, alongside the Justice for Salah campaign, affirm the following:

  1. We reject the harassment and arbitrary violations the Israeli occupation forces are subjecting Salah Hammouri to as punishment for his human rights work and to discourage him, and all human rights defenders, from continuing to defend Palestinians and criticize Israeli violations. We specifically:
  • Condemn and reject the practice of administrative detention, emphasizing its violation of provisions of international law. Thus, we call for the immediate release of all administrative detainees, including Salah Hammouri. We affirm that Israel’s administrative detention practices violate the text of Articles 42 and 78 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross, permits administrative detention only for necessary and compelling reasons to maintain its exceptional nature. Contrarily, Israel practices administrative detention in a systematic and repeated manner for undisclosed “secret reasons,” making these detentions arbitrary ones. Therefore, this practice also violates Article 75 of Protocol I annexed to the 1977 Geneva Conventions, which is, in itself, part of customary international law.
  • Condemn and reject the Israeli decision to revoke the Mr. Hammouri’s Jerusalem residency based on a secret file and allegations of disloyalty to the occupying power. We emphasize that this is a violation of the international law per Article 43 of the Hague Convention on the Rules of Land War 1907 and Article 64 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which prohibit an occupying power to act as the owner of sovereignty over the occupied territory. Israel’s practices also violate Articles 45 of the Hague Convention and 68 (3) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibit an occupying power from demanding loyalty from the inhabitants of the occupied territory. Furthermore, this is illegal in international humanitarian law as forcibly deporting inhabitants of an occupied territory is considered a war crime under Article 8 of the Rome Statute. In fact, when forcible deportation is part of a widespread and systemic policy against civilians—as it is in Israel—it also is considered a crime against humanity under Article 7 of the Rome Statute. Furthermore, revoking the residency of human rights defenders and others in Jerusalem violates various rules of international human rights law such as the right to family life, the right to freedom of movement, including the right to leave and return to one’s homeland, and the right of expression and peaceful assembly in accordance with Articles 19, 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These deportation practices also contradict declarations made by the UN Security Council and the General Assembly that it is illegal to change the status quo in terms of demographics in the city of Jerusalem. Finally, emptying the city of its Arab residents is a blatant application of the internationally condemned practice of apartheid.
  1. We demand that the French government act effectively and quickly to help secure the release of French citizen Salah Hammouri, denounce and prevent the revocation of his residency and his forced deportation from Jerusalem, and compensate him for the human rights violations he was subjected to.
  2. We demand that the International Criminal Court move the investigation file as soon as possible and prosecute Israel for its grave violations of international humanitarian and criminal law, amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
  3. We call on the United Nations, especially the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the Human Rights Council, to take effective steps to stop Israel’s practices of revoking Jerusalem residencies, emptying the city of its Arab residents, and changing its demographic composition in contravention of the existing legal status.
  4. We demand that world governments activate universal jurisdiction in accordance with Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention to ensure that Israel is held accountable and does not enjoy impunity for the grave violations it commits against Palestinians, including arbitrary detention and forced displacement.
  5. We demand that member states of the international community, world parliaments, and civil society institutions work to pressure Israel to respect human rights work. We ask these states and organizations to help provide protection to the Palestinian people and human rights workers, document violations of international law committed by the occupation, and seek international accountability.

Signatories (to add the name of your orgnization/institute among the signatories, Please fill in this form):

  1. Law for Palestine – UK.
  2. Al Haq Organization – Law in the Service of Mankind. Palestine
  3. Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development. ARDD. Jordan
  4. American Center for Justice (ACJ). USA
  5. Jemez Peacemakers. New Mexico USA
  6. Palestine Arab Relief and Development Authority. Palestine
  7. Centre for Human Rights Research & Advocacy (CENTHRA). Malaysia
  8. Geneva International Centre for Justice. Switzerland
  9. L’association des palestiniens d’Ile de France
  10. Union d’Associations Palestiniennes en France
  11. Canadian BDS Coalition
  12. Just Peace Advocates
  13. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
  14. Bisan Center for Research and Development
  15. Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P)
  16. Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).
  17. Belgian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BACBI)
  18. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
  19. BDS Korea
  20. Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
  21. Human Rights for All ( HR4A) Saskatchewan
  22. French Jewish Union for Peace
  23. Association Belgo-Palestinienne WB
  24. Association France Palestine Solidarité 
  25. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  26. FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  27. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  28. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
  29. Human Rights and Democracy Media Centers SHAMS
  30. Finnish-Arab Friendship Society, Finland
  31. Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe, Spain
  32. ICAHD Finland
  33. François GIRODON
  34. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
  35. International Association of Democratic Lawyers
  36. docP – BDS Netherlands
  37. European Legal Support Center (ELSC)
  38. Nederlands Palestina Komitee
  39. LDH – Ligue des droits de l’Homme France
  40. Palestine House
  41. Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers
  42. International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL)
  43. Comite Dordogne-Palestine
  44. Association des Universitaires pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine (AURDIP)
  45. SCRIBEST l’édition solidaire

Categories
Statement

Dutch NGOs call upon the international community to take action against Israel for targeting Palestinian human rights organisations 

After the Israeli army violently raided and closed seven prominent Palestinian human rights organisations last Thursday, this weekend it threatened the director of Al Haq (Shawan Jabarin) by telephone and detained the director of Defense for Children International – Palestine (Khaled Quzmar) several hours for questioning. This escalation proves once again that statements by European governments expressing serious concerns are insufficient. This, together with the killing of critical journalists and other Palestinian civilians with impunity, has reached the point where the international community must set a clear boundary. This is the limit, according to a broad representation of Dutch organisations. 

In October last year, 32 Dutch organisations condemned Israel’s decision to designate six organisations (now seven) as terrorist on the basis of Israeli anti-terror laws. On 12 July 2022, the Netherlands and eight other EU countries expressed their support for the organisations. The EU countries have so far not seen any evidence of the terrorist designation and therefore rejected the Israeli allegations, as “no substantial information has been received from Israel that would justify a review of our policy towards the six Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as ‘terrorist organisations'”.

What we warned about in October is happening: in an attempt to suppress the work of human rights defenders, Israel is raiding their offices, confiscating property and documents, then sealing them with metal plates and leaving a military order declaring the organisations illegal. This is a serious violation of the right to freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly. This ever-increasing restriction on civil society is not in keeping with a country that claims to be a democratic state based on the rule of law.

Several of the seven organisations that have been affected provide evidence of alleged war crimes by Israel to the International Criminal Court. The Netherlands, as host country of the ICC, has an additional responsibility to ensure that civil society organisations, individuals and states can continue to provide the ICC with evidence and information. 

Without significant action, the longstanding pattern of repression and undermining of Palestinian organisations will further deteriorate. This is unacceptable and it has become clear that statements alone are not enough to make Israel change its policy. The international community should immediately take the following actions in the face of the threat to the existence of Palestinian civil society organisations and human rights defenders:

  • Urge at the highest diplomatic level that Israel withdraws the charges against the seven organisations and brings the underlying anti-terror legislation into line with international law;
  • Protect Shawan Jabarin and Khaled Quzmar and other employees from interrogation, arbitrary arrest and detention, and ask Israel to cease all harassment practices and policies, including arbitrary detention, torture and other forms of ill-treatment, institutionalised hate speech and incitement;
  • Add action to it, in line with the 2013 recommendations of the AIV, and attach (diplomatic) consequences to this escalation; 
  • Openly increase financial, political and where necessary logistical support to Palestinian organisations and civil society, guided by the needs of these organisations;
  • Give priority in its policy towards Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories to protecting civil society and human rights defenders;
  • Call on the Assembly of States Parties and the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to ensure the viability of organisations working to present evidence to the Court.

Signed by:

  • PAX
  • Amnesty International Nederland
  • SOMO
  • The Rights Forum
  • OXFAM Novib
  • European Legal Support Center
  • Defence for Children Nederland
  • ActionAid Netherlands
  • Both Ends
  • Human Security Collective
  • Stichting Aflatoun International
  • Right to Play Netherlands
  • Transnational Institute (TNI)
  • Stichting Kifaia
  • MENA Werkgroep FNV
  • Gate48
  • Plant een Olijfboom
  • Kairos Sabeel Nederland
  • Nederlands Palestina Komitee
  • Een Ander Joods Geluid
  • Grote Midden Oosten Platform
  • Plan International Nederland
  • International Child Development Initiatives
  • Dutch Scholars for Palestine

Photo: DCI-Palestine

Read the statement originally published on the website of PAX.

Categories
Statement

Over 150 Organizations Demand International Community Stand Against Raids and Closures of 7 Palestinian Organizations

The ELSC joined over 150 organisations to condemn the raids and closures of 7 prominent Palestinian organisations and urge the international community to take effective measures. Read below the joint statement originally published on the CIHRS website.

Amid Israel’s escalating attacks targeting their work, a group of more than 150 Palestinian, regional, and international organizations express our full solidarity with the designated seven leading Palestinian civil society organizations, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq Law in the Service of Man (Al-Haq), Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Health Work Committees (HWC), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).

On the morning of 18 August 2022, the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) raided and sealed the doorways into the offices of the seven Palestinian organizations. The IOF also confiscated documents and equipment and destroyed items in the offices. On the doors of the organizations, military orders were left behind ordering the closure of the offices under Article 319 of the Emergency Regulations of 1945. This development follows the 19 October 2021, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz designation of six leading Palestinian civil society organizations as terrorist organizations under Israel’s Anti-Terrorism Law (2016), which was then extended to the West Bank on 3 November 2021 by a military order that outlawed the same organizations.

We urge the international community to unequivocally condemn Israel’s targeting of Palestinian civil society and tactics to further repress of freedom of expression. States must take all necessary action to support and protect Palestinian human rights defenders and ensure the continuation of their invaluable work.

These raids and closures represent the latest escalation in Israel’s widespread campaign aiming to silence and discredit any Palestinian individual or organization that dares to seek accountability for Israel’s grave human rights violations, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The “persecution of organizations and persons, by depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms, because they oppose apartheid” is a method used by Israel, amounting to acts of apartheid prosecutable under the Rome Statute, to maintain its domination and oppression over the Palestinian people.

The organizations remain at an additional risk of closure of bank accounts, travel bans and movement restrictions, and the arrest and detention of staff members for their work. Israel’s attacks against these organizations pose an existential threat to independent Palestinian human rights organizations and civil society who work to monitor and document violations of human rights and provide basic services to the Palestinian people.

We call upon the international community to demand that Israel immediately revoke its designations of Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations as “terrorist organizations,” reverse the military orders designating the organizations and closing their offices and repeal its Anti-Terrorism Law (2016) as it does not meet basic human rights standards.

Moreover, we call on the international community to take effective measures to end all other actions that deny Palestinians their inalienable human rights.

Lastly, we call on the members of the international community to continue their support and increase funding to the organizations and engage with financial institutions to ensure the transfer of funds to the organizations.

Signatories:

  1. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
  2. 11.11.11
  3. Abductees’ Mothers Association
  4. Academic Program for Studies of Arab and Muslim Communities in Diaspora
  5. ACAT-France
  6. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
  7. Advokatfirmaet Roli
  8. Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
  9. Al-ataa Benevolent Association
  10. Aldameer association for human rights
  11. Al-Haq
  12. Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society
  13. Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies
  14. Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ)
  15. ARTICLE 19
  16. Artists for Palestine UK
  17. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
  18. Asociacion Palestina Biladi
  19. Association Belgo-Palestinienne
  20. Association des Universitaires pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine (AURDIP)
  21. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression
  22. Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)
  23. Aswat Nissa
  24. Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children’
  25. Australian Centre for International Justice
  26. Basmeh & Zeitooneh for Relief and Development
  27. Baytna
  28. Bds Maroc
  29. BDS Netherlands
  30. BDS Vancouver Coast Salish Territories
  31. Belgian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BACBI)
  32. Bytes For All, Pakistan
  33. Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)
  34. Center for Constitutional Rights
  35. Center for Strategic Studies to Support Women and Children
  36. Centre for Global Education
  37. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales
  38. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
  39. CNCD-11.11.11
  40. Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid
  41. Comhlamh Justice for Palestine
  42. Committee for a Just Peace in the Middle East, Luxembourg
  43. Committee for Justice
  44. Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ)
  45. Conectas Human Rights
  46. Cultura è Libertà, una campagna per la Palestina
  47. DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
  48. Een Andere Joodse Stem / Another Jewish Voice (Belgium)
  49. Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
  50. Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
  51. Egyptian Human Rights Forum
  52. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights
  53. El Nadim Center For Management & Rehabilitation of victims of violence
  54. ESCR-Net, International Network for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights
  55. EuroMed Rights
  56. European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine – ECCP
  57. European Legal Support Center (ELSC)
  58. European Trade Union Network for Justice in Palestine
  59. FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  60. Financial Justice Ireland
  61. Foundation for Middle East Peace (Washington, DC)
  62. Front Line Defenders
  63. Fundación Mundubat
  64. Gaza Action Ireland
  65. Global NPO Coalition on FATF
  66. Herbst Law PLLC
  67. Human Rights & Democracy Media Center “SHAMS”
  68. Human Rights for All (HR4A) Saskatchewan
  69. Human Rights in China
  70. Human Rights Watch
  71. Human Security Collective
  72. ICAHD-USA
  73. International Accountability Project
  74. International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
  75. International Commission to support Palestinian People’s Rights
  76. International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
  77. International Service for Human Rights
  78. International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific
  79. Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
  80. Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – UK
  81. Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
  82. Just Words Limited
  83. Justice for Palestinians Calgary
  84. Justitia Center for legal protection of human rights in Algeria
  85. Kairos Ireland
  86. Kenya Human Rights Commission
  87. League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI)
  88. Local Development and Small Projects Support (LDSPS)
  89. Makan
  90. MakeShiftPublishing
  91. MENA Rights Group
  92. Muslim Peace Fellowship
  93. Mwatana for human rights
  94. Nederlands Palestina Komitee
  95. New Weapons Research Groups
  96. Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine Israel
  97. North Bronx Racial Justice
  98. Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO-Norway)
  99. Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees
  100. NOVACT Institute for Nonviolent Action
  101. Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
  102. Palestina Solidariteit vzw Belgium
  103. Palestine Solidarity Alliance
  104. Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK
  105. Palestine Solidarity Network – Edmonton
  106. Palestine Solidarity, St. John’s, NL
  107. Palestine Solidary Organisation at Nelson Mandela University
  108. Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
  109. Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall)
  110. Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
  111. Pan African Palestine Solidarity Network
  112. Paz con Dignidad
  113. Peace and Building Foundation
  114. Physicians for Human Rights Israel
  115. Platform of French NGOs for Palestine
  116. Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
  117. Project South
  118. Riposte Internationale
  119. Sadaka-the Ireland Palestine Alliance
  120. Sadaqa
  121. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
  122. Scottish Friends of Palestine
  123. Sexual Rights Initiative
  124. SOLIDAR
  125. Solsoc
  126. South African BDS Coalition
  127. South African Jews For a Free Palestine
  128. STEILAS
  129. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
  130. Tamkeen for Legal Aid and Human Rights
  131. Teaching Palestine: Pedagogical Praxis and the Indivisibility of Justice
  132. The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
  133. The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ)
  134. The Association of Norwegian NGOs for Palestine
  135. The Canadian BDS Coalition
  136. The civic coalition for Palestinian rights in jerusalem
  137. The Danish House in Palestine
  138. The International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
  139. The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church USA
  140. The Norwegian Initiative DEFEND INTERNATIONAL LAW
  141. The Palestine Committee of Norway
  142. The Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy
  143. The Palestinian Human Rights Organization “PHRO”
  144. The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy – MIFTAH
  145. The Rights Forum
  146. The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
  147. Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA (Australia)
  148. United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel (UNJPPI)
  149. University Network for Human Rights
  150. University of KwaZulu-Natal Decoloniality Action Group
  151. US Campaign for Palestinian Rights
  152. Visualizing Palestine
  153. Viva Salud
  154. Vrede vzw
  155. West African Human Rights Defenders Network
  156. Women in Black Vienna
  157. Women Now for Development
  158. Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC)
  159. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
  160. Yemen Future Foundation for Culture & Media Development
Categories
Statement

The ELSC Demands Accountability After Police Repression in Berlin on 15th of May 2022

Last week, the ELSC sent a letter to UN Special Rapporteurs on contemporary forms of racism, on freedom of opinion and expression, and on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, following its previous communication alerting on urgent threats to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly in Berlin ahead of Nakba day.

On 13 May 2022, the Berlin police, with a stamp of approval from Berlin’s Higher Administrative Court, prohibited public gatherings to be held over the weekend in commemoration of the 74 years of the Nakba and in remembrance of Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist killed by the Israeli army. The police’s decision was based on unfounded allegations, using a language that amount to Anti-Palestinian racism, and constituted an arbitrary and disproportionate limitation to fundamental freedoms, as stated in our first communication.

On 15 May 2022, individuals spontaneously took to the streets of Neukölln to observe a moment of silence in honour of the slain journalist. In different locations in Berlin, they were met with brutal police repression. Police officers used a kettling technique to encircle and detain groups of people, to collect their personal details and individually photograph them.

Activist Ramsy Kilani, who was manhandled by police officers, recounts:

Beyond media attacks, anti-Palestinian racism has by now reached a new level of violent repression and crackdowns on anything visibly Palestinian in Germany. As Palestinians, we were not even allowed to commemorate our tragedy, the Nakba, in silence, without being assaulted and having our fundamental rights abolished by the police and official institutions in Berlin. These attacks on us and on me personally have retraumatized me, but they have not succeeded in taking our will to resist this injustice and to continue the struggle for Palestinian human rights”.

The police intervention represents an egregious and targeted limitation of fundamental freedoms enshrined in German basic law, European Human Rights Law and international law.

Against this backdrop, Human Rights Watch also raised concerns about the incidents, designating the pre-emptive ban as “an extreme restriction that effectively works as a collective punishment on those who wish to peacefully assemble, based on speculation over potential unlawful acts of a minority”. Manu Pineda, Member of the European Parliament, asked the EU Commission to determine that the ban on protests violates Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The ELSC, therefore, ask the relevant UN Special Rapporteurs to: a) request an explanation from the competent authorities of the City of Berlin; b) publicly denounce the violations of the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and the right of non-discrimination; c) take the necessary steps to ensure that any of the person(s) responsible for the alleged violations are hold accountable.

Read the letter

Photo: cc Montecruz Foto | 14.05.2021 – Free Palestine demo in Berlin

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Statement

Protect the right to boycott

The UK government is proposing an ‘anti-boycott bill’ that, if passed, could dramatically affect the ability of individuals and organisations to campaign for social and climate justice in the UK and around the world.

We as a collection of organisations have written the following statement to express our opposition to the bill:

Civil Society Statement

As a group of civil society organisations made up of trade unions, charities, NGOs, faith, climate justice, human rights, cultural, campaigning, and solidarity organisations, we advocate for the right of public bodies to decide not to purchase or procure from, or invest in companies involved in human rights abuse, abuse of workers’ rights, destruction of our planet, or any other harmful or illegal acts. We therefore oppose the government’s proposed law to stop public bodies from taking such actions.

The government has indicated that a main intention of any legislation is to ensure that public bodies follow UK foreign policy in their purchasing, procurement, and investment decisions, particularly relating to Israel and Palestine. We are concerned that this would prevent public bodies from deciding not to invest in or procure from companies complicit in the violation of the rights of the Palestinian people. We affirm that it is the right of public bodies to do so, and in fact a responsibility to break ties with companies contributing to abuses of rights and violations of international law in occupied Palestine and anywhere else where such acts occur.

From bus boycotts against racial segregation to divestment from fossil fuel companies to arms embargoes against apartheid, boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns have been applied throughout history to put economic, cultural, or political pressure on a regime, institution, or company to force it to change abusive, discriminatory, or illegal policies. If passed, this law will stifle a wide range of campaigns concerned with the arms trade, climate justice, human rights, international law, and international solidarity with oppressed peoples struggling for justice. The proposed law presents a threat to freedom of expression, and the ability of public bodies and democratic institutions to spend, invest and trade ethically in line with international law and human rights.

We call on the UK government to immediately halt this bill, on opposition parties to oppose it and on civil society to mobilise in support of the right to boycott in the cause of justice.

Share the statement

Read more about the Bill and see the FAQ on the Right to Boycott website

Signatories

  • Amos trust
  • Artists for Palestine UK
  • Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU)
  • British Committee for the Universities of Palestine
  • BRISMES Campaigns
  • British Palestinian Council
  • Campaign Against Arms Trade
  • Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
  • Communication Workers Union (CWU)
  • European Legal Support Centre
  • Friends of Birzeit University (FOBZU)
  • Free Speech on Israel
  • Friends of Al Aqsa
  • Friends of the Earth (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
  • Global Justice Now
  • Greenpeace UK
  • Institute of Race Relations
  • International Centre of Justice for Palestinians
  • Israeli Committee against House Demolitions UK
  • Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JJP)
  • Labour and Palestine
  • London Mining Network
  • Makan
  • Methodist Church in Britain
  • Movement for the Abolition of War
  • Muslim Association of Britain
  • National Education Union
  • National Union of Students
  • Netpol
  • Palestine Solidarity Campaign
  • People and Planet
  • Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
  • Quaker Roots
  • Quakers in Britain
  • Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers Union (RMT)
  • Sabeel-Kairos UK
  • SOS-UK (NUS climate campaign)
  • Stamp out Poverty
  • Transport Salaried Staffs Association Union (TSSA)
  • UNISON
  • Unite the Union
  • United Reformed Church
  • University and College Union (UCU)
  • War on Want
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Statement

We Won’t Be Silenced: On the Attempts to Smear Free Palestine Maastricht

Student activist group Free Palestine Maastricht, dedicated to building solidarity and awareness on the Palestinian cause, is targeted in an escalating unfounded smear campaign initiated by a student at Maastricht University. The ELSC has been providing the group with legal assistance. In the statement below, Free Palestine Maastricht asserts its right to advocate for Palestinian rights and calls upon Maastricht University to protect students’ fundamental rights of freedom of expression, assembly, and association.

Free Palestine Maastricht (FPM) is a student-led organization that aims to amplify the voices of the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom and justice against the Israeli apartheid regime. We proudly support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which we, like many civil society organizations and renowned scholars, see as a legitimate inclusive and anti-racist movement based on respect for fundamental human rights. The members of FPM represent diverse backgrounds, beliefs and origins including Jewish students. Since our establishment in October 2020, we have developed a strong, inclusive community of solidarity with Palestine organizing several events and debates on- and off-campus in Maastricht.

The right to advocate for Palestinian rights, including the promotion, discussion and participation in boycott campaigns constitutes an integral part of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly which the University of Maastricht must protect. Accordingly, the University is required to offer a safe space to all its students for engaging in constructive debates and activism.

Recently, FPM was the target of a smear campaign based on inflammatory and completely unfounded accusations of antisemitism. This campaign was ultimately amplified by a network of pro-Israel lobby organizations with the clear aim to intimidate and silence us. This episode is part of a larger coordinated attack on Palestinian and European civil society organisations providing solidarity to Palestinians. A report published by the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) shows that over 70 incidents occurred in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2020, including attempts at restricting academic freedom, defamation and threats with lawsuits to intimidate advocates for Palestinian rights. Among them, the mobilization of smear campaigns that publicly discredit individuals and organizations was the most used tactic. What happened to us clearly aims to create a chilling effect and discourage our fellow students from participating in our activities.

Nevertheless, FPM stands strong. We are not intimidated nor will we be silenced. We are even more determined to organize and raise awareness on and off campus for justice in Palestine. We urge the University of Maastricht to support its students when their freedom of speech comes under attack and to firmly condemn the attempts to smear us.

Four Jewish organisations expressed their support to Free Palestine Maastricht in a letter addressed to Maastricht University. Read the letter here.

Jewish students at Maastricht University also supported FPM. Read the letter here.

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Statement

The ELSC and The Rights Forum condemn Dutch government’s decision to defund UAWC

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) and The Rights Forum strongly condemn the decision of the Dutch government to end its funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC). This decision was made despite an external investigation that affirmed UAWC’s institutional independence and cleared the organisation of the main charges levied against it by the Israeli government and its extremist allies.

UAWC is the largest agricultural development organisation in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), providing crucial training and supplies to Palestinian farmers and fisherfolk in the West Bank and Gaza. The organisation plays an essential role in making Area C of the West Bank liveable and accessible for thousands of Palestinians farmers as well as their families and communities. Accordingly, it is undisputable that the termination of Dutch funding for UAWC’s projects will have tremendous repercussions on Palestinians. It will encourage Israel’s illegal settlements enterprise and facilitate Israel’s de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

For years, UAWC, has been the target of smear campaigns led by a network of Israel advocacy groups claiming UAWC has institutional ties to the Popular Front of Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Palestinian political party and a proscribed group in the European Union. These campaigns are part of a larger coordinated attack on Palestinian civil society and international organisations that provide solidarity to Palestinians which escalated in October 2021 when the Israeli Government designated UAWC and other five prominent Palestinian civil society organisations as “terror organisations”. Most of these lawfare and disinformation groups coordinate with the Israeli government in some fashion and have expressed support for the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements. In a report released in October 2021, the ELSC identified 12 attempts in the Netherlands – between 2015 and 2020 – by pro-Israel advocacy groups to pressure Dutch donors (mostly the Dutch government) to defund civil society organisations supporting the Palestinian people.

The groundless nature of the allegations brought against UAWC has now been openly acknowledged by the Dutch government itself. According to the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, the findings of the Dutch investigation into UAWC confirm that there is no evidence that:

(a) there are any organisational links between UAWC and the PFLP;

(b) there are any financial links between UAWC and the PFLP;

(c) the PFLP directs UAWC;

(d) board and staff members used their position at UAWC to organise or support any terrorist activity.

However, in the Dutch Government’s view, UAWC’s failure to screen and select its staff and board members on the grounds of their political opinion and affiliation is considered “undesirable” and displays a “lack of candour” by the organisation. That is the sole basis put forward by the Dutch government to terminate its funding of UAWC, which started in 2007.

This decision is extremely problematic, as it starkly contradicts the essential findings of the investigation and ignores UAWC’s legal obligations and internal policies to not discriminate its employees on the basis of the political views expressed outside their duties within UAWC. By doing so, the Dutch government neglects its policy of supporting human rights defenders, thus enabling the efforts to repress Palestinian civil society by the Israeli Government and the disinformation groups it works with.

To protect the health of our democracies as well as any hopes for a future peace in Israel/Palestine, governments, donors, policymakers, and businesses around the world should acknowledge and firmly reject smear campaigns targeting human rights defenders.

Therefore, we:

  1. call on civil society and solidarity groups world-wide to join and amplify the protest launched by The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network  PNGO by sending protest letters to the Dutch Foreign Ministry MENA department;
  2. urge all other donors of UAWC, both governmental and private, to maintain their funding for UAWC.

Download the statement.

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Statement

The Netherlands must speak out against unsubstantiated accusations against six Palestinian organisations

Today, the ELSC joined 31 Dutch organisations to call the Dutch government to condemn the recent allegations against six prominent Palestinian NGOs.

We call on the Dutch government to:

  • To publicly speak out against the decision of the Israeli government and to condemn it as an unjustified restriction on civil society;
  • To call on the Israeli government to revoke the decision in question with immediate effect;
  • To continue its (financial) support to current Palestinian partner organisations and to ensure that Dutch banks and financial institutions do not follow this condemnation;
  • To publicly express its support for the work of the six affected organisations;
  • To give priority in its policy towards Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory to the protection of civil society and human rights defenders who stand up for the rights of Palestinians anywhere in the world.

Read the whole statement in English and in Dutch.

Picture: Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Ben Knapen. Cc Flickr | Sebastiaan ter Burg 

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Restrictive Policies Statement

The ELSC calls on the EU to oppose Israel’s latest attempt to suppress Palestinian Civil Society

On 22 October 2021, the Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced the official designation of six prominent Palestinian human rights and civil society organisations (CSOs) as “terrorist” organisations. This decision is the most recent development of a longstanding strategy by Israeli authorities and disinformation groups such as NGO Monitor to repress Palestinian civil society through criminalisation and delegitimisation. This phenomenon has been widely acknowledged and denounced by national European governments, including in the Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium and the United Nations.

This is not the first time that the Israeli government and its allies have disseminated unfounded allegations to pressure European States and institutions in order to disrupt their financial support to Palestinian organisations. Nevertheless, these inflammatory accusations have already been rejected as unsubstantiated by the EU (in 2018 and 2021) and Member States, including Belgium and Sweden.

It is worth noting that, none of the Palestinian CSO’s or their staff members have been included in the EU’s list of proscribed organisations. In order to be added to this list, the Council of the European Union is required to designate the CSOs in the light of a decision taken by a competent authority which must be based on ‘serious and credible evidence’. The Court of Justice of the European Union has stated that, in order to rely on a decision of a third State, such as Israel, to designate CSO’s as proscribed organisations, the Council must carefully verify that the relevant legislation of that State ‘ensures in practice a protection of the rights of defence’ equivalent to that guaranteed at EU level by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.

This is certainly not the case as the 2016 Israeli counter-terrorism law poses serious human rights concerns. As explained by Professors E. Lieblich and A. Shinar, and clarified by the human rights organisation Adalah, the legislation in question allows entities to be included on the list of terrorist organisations without any right to a hearing or to submit defensive evidence beforehand. The designation is based on classified evidence that the listed organisations are not authorised to access, not even when opposing the decision before the Minister of Defence or the Supreme Court, thus erasing any guarantee of a fair trial.

We therefore firmly condemn the allegations by the Israeli Minister of Defence and call on the European Union and its Member States to reject the designation, to publicly oppose the suppression of Palestinian civil society, and to continue their financial support to their Palestinian partners.

See the reactions to the Israeli decision from the EU, Member States, international organisations and institutions.

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Media Coverage Statement

22 Rights Groups Tell PayPal and Venmo to Shape Up Policies on Account Closures

Nearly two dozen rights groups, including the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) and our partner 7amleh, have joined together to tell PayPal and its subsidiary Venmo to shape up its policies on account freezes and closures.

“Companies like PayPal and Venmo have hundreds of millions of users. Access to their services can directly impact an individual, company, or nonprofit’s ability to survive and thrive in our digital world,” said EFF International Director of Freedom of Expression Jillian York. “But while companies like Facebook and YouTube have faced substantial scrutiny for their history of account closures, financial companies like PayPal have often flown under the radar. Now, the human rights community is sending a clear message that it’s time to change.”

PayPal also has an history of closing accounts of Palestinian rights activists and of lacking of services in Palestine, as reported by 7amleh. More than 170 000 people also signed a petition asking PayPal to stop discriminating against Palestinians. Its transparency must be addressed.

Read the full letter to PayPal and Venmo here.

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Statement

Civil society letter to European Commission: counter political instrumentalization of antisemitism

On 15 June, 2021, 10 European NGOs and networks sent an open letter to the European Commission to raise concern about the political instrumentalization of the fight against antisemitism. The ELSC is one of the signatories.

The NGOs and networks sent the letter in anticipation of the EU’s “comprehensive strategy on combating antisemitism”, which the European Commission will present at the end of 2021.

They write: “As civil society organizations promoting human rights and respect for international humanitarian law in Israel and Palestine, we are alarmed by the expanding conflation of criticism directed at the State of Israel with antisemitism.

While this conflation is primarily promoted by the Israeli government and organizations affiliated with it, the Commission has so far failed to clearly distance itself from it. Worse, the Commission has been giving a political tailwind to this troubling trend.”

The letter expresses concern about the Commission’s “unqualified endorsement” of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, criticizes the Commission’s “Handbook for the practical use” of that definition and deplores the lack of transparency and of inclusiveness, which has long characterized the Commission’s approach to fighting antisemitism.

The 10 European NGOs and networks call on the Commission to “acknowledge, reject and counter the political instrumentalization of the fight against antisemitism”, to “launch a serious and substantial dialogue with concerned civil society organizations” and to “reaffirm the Commission’s commitment to freedom of expression and to civic space for rights-based advocacy and activism on Israel-Palestine in the upcoming strategy on combating antisemitism”.

The full letter can be downloaded here. It has been signed by Broederlijk Delen, 11.11.11, CNCD-11.11.11, European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine(ECCP), European Legal Support Center (ELSC), International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), medico international, Plateforme des ONG Françaises pour la Palestine and The Rights Forum.

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Statement

Joint statement on censorship of Palestine campaigning in schools

Repression and censorship have increased as mobilization and protests for Palestinian rights in Europe have grown in the past few weeks. In the UK, children in schools were reprimanded, suspended or even excluded for speaking up about Palestine or showing solidarity through symbols associated with Palestine like flags. The ELSC signed this joint statement along with British organizations to ask the government of the UK to end its repressive policies against activism in schools.


In recent years, from Palestine solidarity to Climate Justice to Black Lives Matter, young people have stood up to assert themselves as crucial players in movements for justice.

Yet, the response from their learning institutions has been a concerning and unacceptable level of sanctions – and at times outright repression – against young people, to disempower and dissuade them from campaigning for justice.

Over the past few weeks, our organisations have witnessed and handled countless cases of children being reprimanded, suspended and accosted by teachers, and excluded for speaking up about Palestine, displaying the Palestinian flag or symbols associated with Palestine.

We have also encountered schools issuing outright prohibitions on any discussion of what is happening in Palestine, with warning signs of the Prevent duty being invoked to ‘handle’ the incidents.

Schools have a crucial part to play in fostering civic education. They must equip our young people with the information to  understand the world around them – one which is sadly riddled with injustice. Yet, as young people are becoming politicised and exercising social action, some school leaders are doing their utmost to thwart their efforts.

Instead of praising their students for taking an interest in the world around them, schools are actively preventing their students from developing themselves politically. 

This forms part of a wider climate fostered by the current government to roll back the growing political consciousness among young people. We have seen this in their manufactured backlash to the school climate strikes and last year’s Black Lives Matter protests, as well as in long-standing policies like Prevent, which are designed to monitor and coerce minority groups.

Indeed, in leaked Prevent training, schoolchildren showing an interest in what is happening in Palestine was listed as something that “needed careful monitoring.”

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has now intervened directly to control how schools discuss Palestine in the classroom. Encouraging the use of so-called “anti-extremism” measures to do so is a direct attack on young people of conscience across the country, and the education sector as a whole.

The repression of Palestine advocacy and Palestine solidarity campaigners has been exceptionally vehement in recent years, and has been deeply interwoven with Islamophobia and unrestrained anti-Palestinian racism.

This has created an environment in which schools and teachers feel either able or compelled to exercise heavy-handed censorship against those organising around the Palestinian cause.

In turn, this creates a chilling effect for all young people – and as we have clearly seen in the past couple of weeks, racialised and Muslim young people in particular.

The securitisation of our schools is part of a wider crackdown on political protest, as embodied by the recent RSHE Guidance for schools, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, the Online Safety Bill and the upcoming ‘boycott ban’ bill.

We, the undersigned, pledge to resist these attempts to silence Palestine solidarity campaigning and offer our full support to all those who are fighting for justice. As such, we demand that the government abandon its censorious and repressive approach to controlling such campaigning in schools.

Signed,

Palestine in School

European Legal Support Center

Black Protest Legal Support

Friends of Al Aqsa

CAGE

Kids of Colour

MEND

Prevent Watch

Islamic Human Rights Commission

No More Exclusions

Coalition of Anti-Racist Educators (CARE)

Apartheid Off Campus

Abolitionist Futures

Black Lives Matter UK

Maslaha

Black Learning Achievement and Mental Health (BLAM)

No Police in Schools

Counter-policing in Education Network

Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol)

Northern Police Monitoring Project

4Front Project

Kings Students and Staff against Surveillance

Resistance Labs

SOAS Against Surveillance and Securitisation

Extinction Rebellion UEA

LivPalestine (Liverpool)

Read the statement here

If your organisation would like to co-sign this statement, please email palestineinschool[at]gmail.com

Image used courtesy of Unsplash/Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona

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Statement

Joint Open Letter to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court: Time to Investigate Crimes in Palestine, Time for Justice

Along with 180 civil society coalitions and organisations, ELSC signed the Open Letter that was submitted to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, on 29 April. We express our strong support for the opening of an investigation into Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which was initiated by Bensouda in December.

Your Excellency Fatou Bensouda,

On 20 December 2019, following almost five years of preliminary examination, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court submitted to the Pre-Trial Chamber a request for a ruling on the Court’s territorial jurisdiction in Palestine indicating that “war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip” and that she had “identified potential cases arising from the situation which would be admissible.” Further, the Prosecutor was satisfied that the Court’s territorial jurisdiction extended to the “Palestinian territory occupied by Israel” since June 1967, “namely the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza.”

The undersigned 180 Palestinian, regional, and international coalitions, organisations, and individuals, led by and including Palestinian coalitions representing over 200 Palestinian civil society organisations, overwhelmingly support the Prosecutor’s findings submitted to the Pre-Trial Chamber. We urge that in light of the pervasive climate of impunity, which has prevailed for over five decades in the occupied Palestinian territory, that perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Palestine must be held accountable at the International Criminal Court.

On 28 January 2020, the Pre-Trial Chamber invited amicus curiae submissions on the question of territorial jurisdiction to be submitted to the Court. This led to the submission of 43 amicus curiae briefs, comprising eight submissions from States parties, including the State of Palestine, and a further two from intergovernmental organisations. Of these, the League of Arab States, representing 22 States, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, representing some 57 States, all of which recognise the State of Palestine and its exclusive sovereignty, submitted in support of the Prosecutor’s findings. These States represent only a fraction of the 137 States that bilaterally recognise the State of Palestine.

Academics, bar associations, including the Palestinian Bar Association, and non-governmental organisations filed compelling amicus curiae submissions in support of the Prosecutor’s findings. Palestinian Professors Asem Khalil and Halla Shoaibi of Birzeit University in Palestine outlined how “sovereignty remains with the occupied State” and that any reliance on the Oslo Accords should be dismissed as a violation of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Because the Oslo process “did not deal with the issue of international crimes, the Accords cannot be interpreted as having intended to prevent the State of Palestine from delegating jurisdiction over such crimes to an international court”.

Additionally, Palestinian lawyer and refugee, Mr. Ismail Ziada, of International-Lawyers.org, whose family home in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip was targeted in an Israeli military airstrike in 2014, killing six members of his family, supported the Prosecutor’s contention that the Oslo Accords cannot override the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. Further, nine substantial submissions filed by Palestinian and international lawyers representing Palestinian victims, with many files representing hundreds of victims from the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian diaspora, outlined how the State of Palestine has territorial jurisdiction over crimes, including the crime of persecution in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Palestinian human rights organisations Al-Haq, Al Dameer Association for Human Rights, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, meanwhile, have urged an immediate and comprehensive criminal investigation to bring an end to the pervasive climate of impunity enjoyed by Israeli perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that an investigation by the International Criminal Court encompass all parts of the occupied Palestinian territory. Palestine has maintained its rightful sovereignty since the British Mandate period over territory beyond the Green Line and, therefore, any criminal investigation mounted by the Prosecutor must encompass at a minimum, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, including its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

While the above described amici filings demonstrate concrete and emphatic support for the Prosecutor’s findings, we are cognizant of the fact that there is even broader and more widespread support from within Palestine, regionally, and internationally for an investigation by the International Criminal Court into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, including crimes committed against civilian health workers, journalists,and children. Moreover, we are concerned that the amici input from European States in opposition to the Prosecutor, fails to represent the positions of civil society organisations from those countries, who have long supported the work of Palestinian civil society organisations in their pursuit of human rights, justice, the rule of law, and accountability at the International Criminal Court. Accordingly, we submit this letter for your consideration ahead of your 30 April 2020 filing to the Pre-Trial Chamber.

Together, the undersigned organisations, coalitions, and individuals, emphatically support the Prosecutor’s finding that there is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been and are being committed in the occupied Palestinian territory, that the International Criminal Court can properly exercise its jurisdiction over the entire territory of the State of Palestine, and fully support without any further undue delay, the opening by the International Criminal Court of a full and thorough investigation into international crimes committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. For the Palestinian people, the International Criminal Court is truly a “court of last resort.” It is time for justice. It is time for an investigation.

Yours Sincerely,

See the signatories on Al Haq website