WEST BANK (Dispatches) – Nine states in the European Union announced they would continue working with the six Palestinian civil society groups the Zionist regime designated “terrorist” associations last year because of a lack of evidence for that claim.
The joint statement came on Tuesday and the groups include the prominent advocacy organizations Addameer, which supports Palestinian political prisoners, and Al-Haq, a human rights organization that works with the United Nations.
Also listed are the Union of Agricultural Work Committees; the Bisan Center for Research and Development; the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees; and Defense for Children International - Palestine.
The foreign ministries of Belgium; Denmark; France; Germany; Ireland; Italy; the Netherlands; Spain; and Sweden said they had not received “substantial information” from the Zionist regime that would justify reviewing their policy.
“Should evidence be made available to the contrary, we would act accordingly,” they said. “In the absence of such evidence, we will continue our cooperation and strong support for the civil society in the OPT (occupied Palestinian territories).
“A free and strong civil society is indispensable for promoting democratic values…,” the nine EU states said.
On October 25, the Zionist regime issued a military order declaring the six Palestinian groups as “terrorist organizations.”
The occupying regime accuses the Palestinian groups of funneling donor aid to Palestinian resistance fighters.
Among the targeted groups, Addameer and al-Haq’s work focuses on documenting the occupying regime and the Palestinian Authority’s human rights violations in the occupied territories.
UN human rights experts, including Michael Lynk, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestinian territories, said in April that several funders had delayed their contributions to these NGOs while they investigated the Zionist regime’s claims, undermining their work.