Israeli forces raided, ransacked, and shuttered the offices of several top Palestinian civil society groups in the West Bank in the early hours of Thursday morning, a move the organizations denounced as retaliation for their efforts to end the decades-long occupation and hold Israel accountable for its ongoing war crimes.
Al-Haq, Addameer, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Workers Committees (UAWC), and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC) were among the groups whose West Bank offices were stormed by Israel, which has accused the organizations of harboring ties to “terrorists.”
The groups deny that allegation as a smear aimed at justifying Israeli forces’ suppression of legitimate human rights work in the occupied enclave, which Israel has subjected to years of bombing, military raids, and economic strangulation.
At some of the offices, the Israeli soldiers barred the entrances and left behind notices that the groups’ activities have been deemed illegal.
BREAKING 🚨 The Israeli occupation forces raided UAWC’s office early this morning 18th of August, as well as the offices of the other #6organizations. They destroyed office equipment, confiscated materials and left a closing order behind. pic.twitter.com/hVaHrRIaKS
— Union of Agricultural Work Committees (@UAWC1986) August 18, 2022
Al-Haq said Thursday that Israeli soldiers “forcibly blasted through the locked security door” of its offices in Ramallah, “bursting the door from its hinges and raiding the premises, setting off the alarms.”
The soldiers proceeded to “systematically” infiltrate “each room,” the group continued, “blasting the hinges off the locked doors of the finance department, the administrative office, the general director’s office, and the main server room, causing material damage.”
“In targeting the Palestinian civil society organizations, Israel is dismantling the very fabric of the Palestinian society and systematically removing the critically vital monitoring and oversight institutions necessary for a viable and functioning society based on the principles of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law,” the group added, imploring the international community to “immediately reverse the military order designating the six organizations as unlawful associations.”
Al-Haq also urged governments to “take concrete measures, such as trade restrictions and arms embargoes, to ensure that Israel is held internationally responsible for its ongoing systematic inhumane acts of apartheid, including the persecution of Palestinian human rights defenders.”
🚨🚨Breaking: This morning, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) raided Al-Haq’s office in Ramallah, confiscated items and shut down the main entrance with an iron plate leaving behind a military order declaring the organization unlawful 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Y8yqRdU4Db
— Al-Haq الحق (@alhaq_org) August 18, 2022
Middle East Eye reported that the raids came after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz “announced on Wednesday that the terror designation of three of the groups had passed into law.”
“The other three, which had challenged their terror designations, had their appeals rejected,” the outlet noted. “Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, which represented the six groups with private attorneys, said no explanation was given to the groups.”
Adalah attorneys Dr. Hassan Jabareen, Adi Mansour, and Rabea Agbariah and private attorneys Michael Sfard and Jawad Boulos said in a statement that “Israel continues to persecute Palestinian human rights and civil society groups with the clear aim of silencing any criticism against it.”
“The effort is led by a defense minister, Benny Gantz, suspected of committing war crimes, in an attempt to terrorize those who will testify against him and his actions,” they added.
Help us Prepare for Trump’s Day One
Trump is busy getting ready for Day One of his presidency – but so is Truthout.
Trump has made it no secret that he is planning a demolition-style attack on both specific communities and democracy as a whole, beginning on his first day in office. With over 25 executive orders and directives queued up for January 20, he’s promised to “launch the largest deportation program in American history,” roll back anti-discrimination protections for transgender students, and implement a “drill, drill, drill” approach to ramp up oil and gas extraction.
Organizations like Truthout are also being threatened by legislation like HR 9495, the “nonprofit killer bill” that would allow the Treasury Secretary to declare any nonprofit a “terrorist-supporting organization” and strip its tax-exempt status without due process. Progressive media like Truthout that has courageously focused on reporting on Israel’s genocide in Gaza are in the bill’s crosshairs.
As journalists, we have a responsibility to look at hard realities and communicate them to you. We hope that you, like us, can use this information to prepare for what’s to come.
And if you feel uncertain about what to do in the face of a second Trump administration, we invite you to be an indispensable part of Truthout’s preparations.
In addition to covering the widespread onslaught of draconian policy, we’re shoring up our resources for what might come next for progressive media: bad-faith lawsuits from far-right ghouls, legislation that seeks to strip us of our ability to receive tax-deductible donations, and further throttling of our reach on social media platforms owned by Trump’s sycophants.
We’re preparing right now for Trump’s Day One: building a brave coalition of movement media; reaching out to the activists, academics, and thinkers we trust to shine a light on the inner workings of authoritarianism; and planning to use journalism as a tool to equip movements to protect the people, lands, and principles most vulnerable to Trump’s destruction.
We urgently need your help to prepare. As you know, our December fundraiser is our most important of the year and will determine the scale of work we’ll be able to do in 2025. We’ve set two goals: to raise $125,000 in one-time donations and to add 1400 new monthly donors by midnight on December 31.
Today, we’re asking all of our readers to start a monthly donation or make a one-time donation – as a commitment to stand with us on day one of Trump’s presidency, and every day after that, as we produce journalism that combats authoritarianism, censorship, injustice, and misinformation. You’re an essential part of our future – please join the movement by making a tax-deductible donation today.
If you have the means to make a substantial gift, please dig deep during this critical time!
With gratitude and resolve,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy