Press Releases

BADIL submits its report to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association to Inform Thematic Report on Trends, Developments and Challenges to the Ability of Civil Society Organizations to Access Resources
BADIL submits its report to the Special Rapporteur on the rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association to Inform Thematic Report on Trends, Developments and Challenges to the Ability of Civil Society Organizations to Access Resources

On 18 February 2022, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights submitted its report to the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the rights of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr. Clément N. Voule to inform a thematic report on trends, developments, and challenges to the ability of civil society organizations to access resources, including foreign funding, to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) at its 50th Session.

 

The report highlighted how the Israeli government and its Zionist proxy Government-operated NGOs (GONGOs) have been leading a systematic smear and defamation campaign against Palestinian human rights organizations for decades in an attempt to delegitimize, liquidate and silence the critical voice of Palestinian civil society organizations (CSOs) and ultimately dry up funding resources by the international donor community.

 

The report provided information regarding the context in which Palestinian civil society operates, that is a coercive environment created by Israel and the international donor community as a result of the delegitimization campaigns.

 

The report further addressed the impact of the Israeli and international practices of criminalizing and delegitimizing Palestinian civil society and how these policies are constituent of the Israel’s wider and protracted strategy to facilitate the ethnic cleansing and forced population transfer of the Palestinian people, thus reinforcing the Israeli colonial-apartheid regime.

 

Accordingly, BADIL called on:

  • The international donor community to recognize that playing this role contradicts their obligations and self-espoused principles like neutrality, partnership and a human rights-based approach, threatening their strategic relationship with the Palestinian people.
  • The UN Bodies to take a principled stance against the constant attacks on Palestinian CSOs, and promote a prosperous, sustainable civil society by understanding the nature and environment in which Palestinian CSOs work.
  • The international donor community and UN Bodies to recognize the impact of their counterterrorism restrictions in inspiring other constraints under the auspices of counterterrorism.
  • The international community to remain true to their commitment to the Palestinian people’s struggle to achieve their legitimate rights as endorsed in its own resolutions and statements, including their right to self-determination and liberation from colonial oppression; and to acknowledge the situation of apartheid imposed by Israel in Palestine.
  • The international community to adopt a genuine human rights-based approach in its partnership with Palestine and to empower the Palestinian people to seek and achieve their own solution to the Palestine predicament instead of its involvement in activities and actions that serve Israel’s purpose to reinforce the status quo, if not perhaps concretize its colonial domination over Palestinian people and their land.