What a humiliating failure for the group of diplomatic missions in Palestine that are now supporting the six Palestinian human rights NGOs that Israel has dubbed “terrorist organizations” and closed down! The irony is that most of these missions are active accomplices of Israel’s apartheid and occupation of Palestine.
When South Africa lived under an apartheid regime, there was a powerful international campaign to sanction and isolate that country. The European Union and the international community have yet to assume their responsibilities and impose sanctions on Israel for committing crimes against humanity, against the Palestinian people (yes, we are part of humanity). Their “solidarity move” now, as Al-Haq Organization calls it, is a hollow gesture in my opinion.
They are there to protect the investment they poured into these six Palestinian NGOs [Al Haq, prisoner advocacy group Addameer, Bisan Center for Human Rights, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC)] back when they were hoping for two states (state-building they called it) to “develop” the West Bank and Gaza Strip for their “Road Map” to nowhere.
Now they are crying “unfounded allegations of terrorism” about Israel’s claims against these six NGOs, when they have not only routinely ignored, but also vigorously protected, the Jewish state’s most fundamental false allegation of all, that Palestine belongs to Jews worldwide rather than to its indigenous population of all religions.
They are “deeply concerned” as they have so often talked out of both sides of their mouth, and “worried” about “the reduction of space for civil society in the occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)” and are searching for “convincing evidence” to be provided, naturally, from the point of view of the occupier of the occupied “territories”. It’s Israel that dictates what’s “lawful” and what’s “unlawful” to these pathetic missions.
reduction of space for civil society in the OPT. These actions are not acceptable. The further reduction of civil space in the OPT remains a source of concern. We stand firm with NGOs to uphold the right to freedom of expression and association in the OPT. A free and strong civil society is indispensable for promoting democratic values and for a two-state solution. As we stated on 12 July, no substantial information We are deeply concerned by the raids which took place in the morning of 18 August, as part of a worrying was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards the 6 Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as ‘terrorist organisations’. Should convincing evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly.
The Foreign Ministries of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden that issued the above statement on 18 August 2022 are oblivious to Israel’s underlying logic, which brooks no Palestinian resistance whatsoever and therefore defines as terrorism both legitimate Palestinian armed struggle as well as non-violent civil activity.
On the rare occasions they are “deeply concerned and worried” about Israel’s violations of UN and international humanitarian law (Fourth Geneva Convention and Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court), which prohibits the transfer of the occupying population to the occupied territory, a war crime, they are, in the same breath, more deeply concerned and worried about Israel’s security.
And that is why Israel repeatedly overreaches with impunity whether in the illegal Jewish colonization of the “occupied territories” or the illegal judaization efforts in Jerusalem or its “preemptive” operation in Gaza, or its extrajudicial executions in Jenin, Nablus and Tulkarem. Let us hope this arrogant overreaching by the Jewish state will ultimately be its demise.
It’s time for these missions to show absolute solidarity with the Palestinian people and to speak strongly in favor of justice for the Palestinian people.
I would like to invite the representatives of the diplomatic missions in Palestine that are now issuing ludicrous statements of solidarity with the six Palestinian NGOs, first to acknowledge what has been staring them in the face for so long, that their “two-state” proposition is dead: “Palestine, with its historical borders, is a single territorial unit. No distinction is made between the part of Palestine which fell under Zionist occupation in 1948 or 1967. Palestine is an integral part of the great Arab homeland, and it is the natural home of the Palestinian people.”
And second, I would like to invite these representatives to participate in the March for Return and Liberation — Brussels, October 2022. The Palestinian people, 60% of whom are outside Palestine, are going to continue their struggle for return and liberation.
Caption: “Oslo will fall under the shoes of refugees…Down with Oslo!” — masarbadil.org
Not only is the two-state path dead, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path is on the rise. Down with racism, Zionism and imperialism… Down with the Oslo Accords!
Note: First published on Medium here.
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Rima Najjar is a Palestinian whose father’s side of the family comes from the forcibly depopulated village of Lifta on the western outskirts of Jerusalem and whose mother’s side of the family is from Ijzim, south of Haifa. She is an activist, researcher and retired professor of English literature, Al-Quds University, occupied West Bank.
