26 Oct 2021; MEMO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday announced that an official move is to be taken against Israel's decision to classify six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organisations.
Speaking to a delegation of the NGOs that have been targeted by the Israeli decision, Abbas said that the Israeli measure "is rejected and condemned, and we all stand with these national institutions whose duty is to expose the crimes of the occupation and reveal them to the world," stressing that "there will be an official Palestinian move to confront this decision internationally."
"Israel does not have the right to interfere in the work of these institutions that operate in accordance with Palestinian law," stressing the need for concerted Palestinian efforts to confront "this challenge the Israeli occupation imposes."
On Friday, Israel announced that it had classified six Palestinian NGOs as "terrorist organisations", claiming they funnel funds to the outlawed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The NGOs conerned are Al-Haq Foundation, Addameer Foundation, Defense for Children International (DCI) – Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees (UPWC) and Bisan Center for Research and Development (Bisan).
The US, UN, EU and numerous human rights organisations all condemned the move as a means of "silencing, intimidating & criminalizing #Palestinian civil society org's & human rights defenders".
