The compound of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ramallah in the occupied Palestinian Territory was broken into by Israeli military in the early hours of August 18. The soldiers posted “Outlawed” on the door of the human rights organization Al-Haq that rents office space within the church compound. Far from outlawed, Al-Haq was the first Palestinian human rights organization created some 40 years ago. It is strictly independent, identifying human rights violations no matter whether by Israel or the Palestine Authority.
In a statement describing the raid, Al Haq detailed the damage.
“At 3:23 am, Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) forcibly blasted through the locked security door of Al Haq’s offices, bursting the door from its hinges and raiding the premises, setting off the alarms. Below the premises of Al-Haq, the IOF bludgeoned and broke the front door of the Episcopal Church, leaving long shards of glass, sponge-grenades (used for riot control), and several teargas canisters, rubber coated and live bullets around the property.”
The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem described how unsafe the residents of the church compound felt during the two-hour raid. “The sound of gun shots, stun grenades, and the smashing of doors caused terror among the families living inside the compound.” The statement continued, “The Diocese considers the offense on the complex of St. Andrew’s in Ramallah as an assault against the free exercise of religion as an established and officially recognized Christian Church.”
Such Israeli actions have been shrinking the space for the free exercise of religion and humanitarian work in the occupied Palestinian Territory. This shrinking of civil society spaces is a step in removing Palestinian worshippers and humanitarians (who now can be designated as “outlaw”) from the Israeli domain. Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) for instance reported that this year, “and for the first time ever, Israeli police announced that they would restrict the number of worshippers at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for the Easter Holy Fire ceremony to 1000 people (the church holds approximately 11,000) and would limit the number of Christians allowed into the Old City on Easter to a mere 500. After an appeal to the High Court, the number of worshippers was increased to 4000.” EPF PIN member Priscilla Read sees the attack of St. Andrew’s Church as constricting the space for Palestinian civil society. She writes, “This attack on a church is part of a pattern of crescendoing Israeli disrespect for religious institutions, religious rites, and people of faith, Muslim and Christian. We observed just this past spring the way Israeli authorities radically restricted Christian processions and observances during Holy Week and Easter. We saw the Israeli Government refuse Muslims the right to gather during Ramadan and access to Al-Aqsa Mosque. They radically restrict both Christian and Muslim access to sacred sites in Jerusalem on a continuing basis, including during the holiest days of the year.” One wonders if there is a strategy of shrinking civil space, the designation of outlaw, and Palestinian removal.
Six of Palestine’s leading human rights organizations were designated “terrorist” by Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on October 19 of last year. A seventh raided group, the Health Work Committees (one of the largest health providers in the occupied west Bank) was designated terrorist a year earlier in 2020. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency as well as ten European states have found no substantial information to back up Israel’s claims that any of the groups is terrorist. Instead among the organizations in question there is work with farmers against Israeli settler encroachment and for the rights of Palestinian children. Khaled Quzmar of Defense for Children International - Palestine noted that 75 files were stolen during the raid by the Israeli Occupying Forces, putting children at risk. “Information for children in Israeli courts which should be private is now in the hands of the Israeli military.”
Keeping Faith
Khaled Quzmar as well as the other directors of the outlawed human rights organizations vowed to continue their work. “Sealing and closing our office,” he said, “will not silence us. We reject the Israeli designation and any repressive tactics aimed at eliminating our work.” He and the others are keeping faith with their mission and with those who depend on them. Shawan Jabarin of Al-Haq stood firm: “They can arrest us, kill us, and beat us, but we will not deter our resolve in achieving justice for our people, and defending the rights of our people.” Palestinians who removed the iron plates that sealed their doors to continue their work risk years in prison. There is little relief from the Israeli courts. Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace, relates: “The Israeli justice system is designed to either find Palestinians guilty if they go through trial or to force them to plead in order to find them guilty indirectly and use that as evidence against other people.” So what redress is there?
Standing by When Innocents are Outlawed
EPF PIN joined 250 other U.S. faith-based, social justice, and human rights organizations in a letter to President Biden on August 29 to stop the Israeli Government’s attacks on Palestinian civil society. The letter charges that the Biden administration’s decision to stand by and not respond to Israeli raids and the repressive tactics that led up to them has put “the safety and well-being of Palestinian human rights defenders at serious risk.” In summary, the letter calls upon the President to: 1) condemn the criminalization of Palestinian civil society organizations; 2) reject the accusations levied against these organizations; 3) take diplomatic action to protect these organizations; 4) open channels for direct U.S. engagement with Palestinian civil society and a public understanding of the impacts of Israeli repression; 5) end U.S. efforts to undermine Palestinian pursuit of justice at the International Criminal Court; 6) ensure unencumbered funding of the targeted Palestinian organizations from U.S. based groups; and 7) suspend U.S. military funding and diplomatic efforts that enable Israeli violation of human rights.
Four days later the directors of the six “outlawed” Palestinian human rights organizations wrote their own letter to President Biden. They write in part,
“in the days, weeks, and months that followed (Israel’s designation of our groups as terrorist), your administration failed to act despite recognition by U.S. government officials and reports that Israeli authorities have for years pursued policies and tactics that work to constrain humanitarian and civil society space within all areas Israeli authorities exercise control. Your administration failed to act despite your own Central Intelligence Agency’s reported assessment that information passed on by Israeli authorities earlier this year did not substantiate the Israeli government’s claims.”
The letter enumerates five steps the Biden administration can and should take that include condemning the Israeli government’s actions, rejecting their allegations, working in partnership with other states to rescind the terrorist designations, ending efforts to undermine the rights of Palestinians to pursue justice at the International Criminal Court, and finally to end complicity with and financial and diplomatic support for the Israeli apartheid regime.
Both letters urge the Biden administration not to stand by when innocents are outlawed. The last word is given to Al-Haq whose offices were raided at the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Compound in Ramallah. The international community is urged, they state, to “take concrete measures, such as trade restrictions and arms embargoes, to ensure that Israel is held internationally responsible for its ongoing systematic inhumane acts of apartheid, including the persecution of Palestinian human rights defenders.”
Editor's Note: Thanks to EPF PIN members Cliff Cutler and Priscilla read for compelling, writing and editing this post.
