{"id":369918,"date":"2021-10-31T17:22:30","date_gmt":"2021-10-31T17:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=fc64f41c7e8b5858a68914f974ad51ad"},"modified":"2021-10-31T17:22:30","modified_gmt":"2021-10-31T17:22:30","slug":"coalition-demands-biden-condemn-israels-crackdown-on-palestinian-rights-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/10\/31\/coalition-demands-biden-condemn-israels-crackdown-on-palestinian-rights-groups\/","title":{"rendered":"Coalition Demands Biden Condemn Israel\u2019s Crackdown on Palestinian Rights Groups"},"content":{"rendered":"\"An<\/a>

A broad coalition of nearly 300 U.S.-based social justice groups on Friday urged<\/a> the Biden administration to “immediately and unequivocally” condemn the Israeli government’s recent decision to classify a half-dozen Palestinian human rights groups as “terrorist organizations.”<\/p>\n

“These actions by the Israeli government are a clear attack on human rights,” says the coalition in its letter<\/a> to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “As such, we urge you to issue a swift rejection of this unprecedented attack on Palestinian human rights organizations and the attempt by the Israeli government to shut down, delegitimize, isolate, and chill a growing human rights movement.”<\/p>\n

Last week, as Common Dreams<\/em> reported<\/a>, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s punitive designation targeted six groups \u2014 Addameer, AlHaq, the Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International – Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.<\/p>\n

Under the apartheid<\/a> regime’s Counter-Terrorism Law of 2016<\/a>, “these human rights organizations now face possible mass arrest and being shut down by the Israeli government, and anyone identifying with the groups can also be subject to imprisonment,” the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), one of the groups that spearheaded Friday’s letter, warned<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n

Israel’s move was quickly rebuked<\/a> by progressive lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), and advocates from CCR, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and 21 Israel-based groups<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In their letter to Blinken, the coalition points out that “smearing the promotion and defense of human rights as ‘terrorist’ activity is a dangerous, well-worn tactic of authoritarian regimes and a shameful political maneuver to undermine the vital work of these organizations.”<\/p>\n

Describing the six recently criminalized groups as “trusted partners in our collective work to secure human rights for all,” the coalition notes that they “form part of the bedrock of Palestinian civil society that has been protecting and advancing Palestinian human rights for decades across the full spectrum of issues of global concern, including children’s rights, prisoners’ rights, women’s rights, socio-economic rights, the rights of farmworkers, and justice and accountability for international crimes.”<\/p>\n

Ahmad Abuznaid, executive director of the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), said<\/a> in a statement that “Israel’s authoritarian attack on these six leading Palestinian human rights organizations is designed to stop their work exposing Israel’s government for what it is: a separate-and-unequal apartheid regime engaging in ongoing settler-colonial violence against the Palestinian people.”<\/p>\n

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288 US orgs are calling the Biden admin to immediately & unequivocally condemn Israel\u2019s criminalization of 6 Palestinian human rights orgs. Their letter: https:\/\/t.co\/c9Gh56b8o9<\/a> @POTUS<\/a>, pick a side: Palestinian human rights or Israeli apartheid?#StandWithThe6<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/TMs6Ksv52w<\/a><\/p>\n

— The CCR (@theCCR) October 29, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n