Counterterrorism off the rails: Israel’s declaration of Palestinian human rights groups as ‘terrorist’ organizations
Eliav Lieblich and Adam Shinar write:
On Friday, Oct. 22, 2021, Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, declared six West Bank Palestinian civil society organizations as “terrorist organizations.” Among them are prominent and well-established human rights organizations such as Al-Haq – which has been active in the occupied territories since 1979. The declaration has received sharp rebukes from international and Israeli human rights groups, the UN, and several members of the U.S. Congress. The U.S. State Department requested Israel to provide explanations for this move, and some left wing members of the Israeli cabinet have requested that Gantz suspend the declaration. Israel asserts that the organizations “belong and constitute an arm of the organization[al] leadership” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — a small, far-left group designated by Israel, the U.S. and the EU as a terrorist organization — and are used to funnel money to the PFLP’s armed activities, as well as to promote other PFLP activities. The Palestinian organizations, unsurprisingly, deny these allegations vehemently and claim that they are being targeted as part of an ongoing and broadening campaign of political persecution and silencing.
In the balance of this article, we make two arguments. The first is that Israel’s Counterterrorism Law of 2016, which forms the legal basis for Gantz’s declaration, is flawed beyond repair. It reflects the severe danger that inheres in laws of this kind, the recent declaration against Palestinian human rights groups being one radical example.
The second claim goes beyond the problematic nature of this specific law and focuses on the wider context of the Israeli declaration. Taken together, the defective law and the political context must lead the international community, including the United States, to firmly reject this new declaration.
In 2021, it should be clear to everyone that criminalizing human rights groups on the basis of classified intelligence is absolutely unacceptable. [Continue reading…]