AMMAN—The Open Society Foundations strongly condemn recent raids by Israeli armed forces on the offices of seven internationally respected Palestinian civil society groups, including Al-Haq, a leading human rights organization that receives funding from Open Society.
The raids mark a significant escalation in an ongoing Israeli campaign aimed at discrediting and silencing Palestinian civil society groups and human rights defenders—a campaign that runs counter to the sustained efforts of the international community to support the protection and promotion of the human rights of Palestinians.
In October 2021, the Israeli government designated six of the seven groups as “terrorist organizations,” without providing any credible or supporting evidence, in violation of both Israeli law and international human rights standards. The designation was strongly criticized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, by leading international human rights organizations, and most recently by nine European countries which said in July in a joint statement that Israel had provided “no substantial information” to justify the designation.
The Open Society Foundations remains fully committed to its support for Al-Haq.
We call on the international community to condemn Israel’s raids on the seven groups; to increase pressure on Israel to remove the illegal designation of Al-Haq and the five other organizations listed as unlawful associations; to urge Israel to refrain from further violations of this nature; and to increase funding for the critical work of Palestinian civil society.