Ireland's Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has commented that he is 'concerned' after Israel's Defence Ministry labeled six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organisations, a number of which have Irish and EU funding.
Israel has stated that the reason for this designation was due to allegations that the NGOs involved were funding the secular revolutionary socialist organisation The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israel accused the human rights organisations of working secretly with the militant group which has been linked to plane hijackings in the 1970s and which is black-listed by several western governments.
Coveney has stated that he, and the EU, were not given any prior notice of the intended designation by Israel and have not received any substantive evidence to support the claims but both he and the EU are in touch with Israeli authorities to gather clarification on the matter. He further commented that Ireland is 'committed to funding civil society organisations and human rights defenders through the Irish Aid programme, including Palestinian civil society'.
Commenting that this is not the first instance of such accusations being made against NGOs in Palestine, Minister Coveney stated that Ireland 'maintains robust checks to ensure that our funding is used only for the purpose intended,' and that previous allegations against NGOs in the 'occupied Palestinian territory which are supported by Ireland and the EU have not been substantiated'.
UN human rights high commissioner Michelle Bachelet said Israel’s decision was an attack on human rights defenders, on freedoms of association, opinion, and expression, and called for the move to be immediately revoked.
Like Coveney, she added that no evidence has been provided to support the accusations against the six groups, nor had any public process been conducted to establish the allegations. 'The organisations … face far-reaching consequences as a result of this arbitrary decision, as do the people who fund them and work with them. ... The crucial work they perform for thousands of Palestinians risks being halted or severely restricted,' she said, adding that the decision would have 'a chilling effect' on human rights defenders.