Resale right. Israel continues its attacks on Palestinian NGOs

Not content with having staged raids last week on the premises of seven Palestinian civil society organizations under the pretext of « terrorist » activities and links with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Israel is trying to muzzle their leaders. On Sunday, Israeli forces arrested Khaled Quzmar, the director general of Defense for Children International Palestine. The director of the West Bank-based human rights group Al-Haq, Shawan Jabarin, was also summoned for questioning the same day. A bit as if the French DGSE assigned a Spanish association! A five-minute “threatening call”, as Jabarin revealed, ordering him to come to the Israeli military prison of Ofer in the occupied West Bank. An officer also allegedly threatened him with arrest, interrogation and “other things” if he did not comply. “I won’t change my mind, but if he wants to arrest me, he can surely do it as the occupying power,” Shawan Jabarin explained. He demanded that the summons be sent officially through lawyers, not by telephone. Some 45 Israeli and Jewish advocacy groups issued a statement of solidarity with the targeted Palestinian groups. “The defense of human rights is not terrorism, they denounce. We reject these baseless statements and call on the international community to put pressure on Israel to reverse its decision. Major Israeli human rights groups, including B’Tselem and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, as well as the J Street group are among the signatories. PB