NEW YORK (Middle East Eye) – More than 100 philanthropic foundations and donors have signed an open letter expressing solidarity with six Palestinian civil society groups that were blacklisted by the Zionist regime and accused of being “terrorist” organizations.
The letter urged the U.S., European Union, and other countries to press the Zionist regime to rescind the designation and also ensure any donation to Palestinian civil society groups reaches them without Zionist interference.
“The targeted assault against six of the leading civil society organizations in Palestine is a blatant attempt to silence and criminalize dissent against the human rights violations of the Israeli regime,” the letter said.
“As global funders of human rights and democracy, this attempt to ‘chill’ our funding and solidarity will not work. We stand with Palestinian civil society organizations and human rights defenders. We assert our right to free speech and to provide financial support to organizations advancing human rights, dignity and wellbeing for the Palestinian people.”
The list of signatories consists of dozens of foundations and funder networks across the U.S. and Europe, including the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), Front Line Defenders, and Grassroots International.
“The cynical weaponization of anti-terrorism laws poses an existential threat both for Palestinian human rights defenders and those defending human rights globally,” FMEP president Lara Friedman said in a statement.
“The breadth of signers of this letter underscores funders’ shared recognition of the urgency of challenging this dangerous tactic, and of the moral obligation to defend partners on the ground who, in essence, have been singled out for attack because they have done their work defending human and civil rights too well.”
In October, Zionist war minister Benny Gantz labeled the six Palestinian NGOs - Addameer; Al-Haq; the Union of Agricultural Work Committees; the Bisan Centre for Research and Development; the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees; and Defense for Children International - Palestine - as “terrorist” organizations.
The move was met with widespread condemnation, including from prominent rights groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, and also some U.S. lawmakers.
Soon after the move, the U.S. State Department said it was seeking clarification and claimed the Zionist regime “did not give us advance warning”.
It was later reported in an investigation by Front Line Defenders (FLD) that the phones of several Palestinians working for the groups were hacked.
Andrew Anderson, FLD’s executive director, said that the blacklisting and later hacking of those groups highlighted the importance of their work advocating for human rights for Palestinians.
Meanwhile, the Zionist regime’s military court on Wednesday handed down a reduced sentence to a Spanish woman who admitted in a plea bargain to raising funds for a West Bank charity that were diverted to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Juana Ruiz Sánchez was sentenced to 13 months in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 50,000 shekels, or roughly $16,000. With credit for time already served, she could be released in the coming weeks.