On the 22nd of October, six Palestinian civil society organisations were accused of affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a socialist and Marxist-Leninist party, whose military wing has been designated as a terrorist organisation. The six organisations, three of which are well respected human rights NGOs, are Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children International – Palestine branch, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Bisan Center for Research and Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees. Israel is yet to present public evidence in support of its decision to outlaw the groups. The UN has labelled Israel’s actions a “misuse of counter-terrorism measures”, as given Israel’s draconian anti-terrorism and secrecy laws, the organisations have their hands tied and are currently unable to defend themselves against the allegations.

Just earlier we spoke with Senior Lecturer, Dr Eyal Mayroz from the University of Sydney about Israel’s criminilisation of Palestinian NGOs.