Public Figures Urge Protection of Palestinian Rights Defenders
As the Israeli occupation abuses Palestinians and works to erode their rights, international public figures denounce the IOF and urge the international community to take action.
Some 100 global figures, including Hollywood A-lister Mark Ruffalo, British author Philip Pullman, and British artist Peter Gabriel, have signed a statement that condemns the Israeli designation of six Palestinian civil society organizations as "terrorists."
The figures - which include renowned Hollywood actors, politicians, authors, and movie directors - are calling on the international community to take action to end Israeli attacks on such Palestinian organizations.
The statement condemned what artists saw as an "unprecedented and blanket attack on Palestinian human rights defenders."
The signatories used the statement to warn the Israeli occupation forces that their designation of the six most eminent Palestinian organizations in the occupied West Bank "puts at risk, not just the organizations themselves, but the entire Palestinian civil society and the tens of thousands of Palestinians they serve every day."
"Still, despite international condemnation by the UN, international human rights groups, and government officials, the Israeli occupation has doubled down in their crackdown and issued a military order that outlaws, entirely, the six Palestinian organizations in the West Bank," the statement read, deploring the Israeli oppression.
They utilized their platform to urge "all persons of conscience across the globe to stand with us," calling on the international community to "Stand With The 6 and protect Palestinian human rights defenders."
The artists underscored that the designation of these NGOs as "terrorist" groups, as well as the military order that outlaws them, places the safety of their organizations and their staff at imminent risk.
The Israeli military order allows the IOF to raid the offices of the NGOs, forcibly shut them down, and arbitrarily arrest their staff to be tried under Israeli military courts.
The public figures explained the effects of the Palestinian organizations on Palestinian society, highlighting the importance of each one of them.
The public figures and artists added to the joint statements their comments and views, such as musician Peter Gabriel, who said, "Those brave enough and committed to guarding our human rights, as these six organizations are, especially in difficult and dangerous situations, must be defended."
Greek MP Yanis Varoufakis followed up by saying, "The decades-long failure of governments to hold Israel to account for its repression of the Palestinians has led to this situation. The international community must speak out and sanction Israel, now."
Musician Brian Eno condemned the Israeli occupation, saying its military order was "beyond cruelty. It’s savagery, barbarism. Israel stands bathed in shame."
This call for supporting Palestinian rights comes only weeks after the same oppressive authorities outlawed six prominent Palestinian civil society groups and designated them as "terrorists," claiming they had links to the PFLP.
Additionally, just today, the Israeli occupation sentenced a Spanish aid worker, Juana Rashmawi, to 13 months in prison over aiding Palestinians through means the occupation deemed "illegal," under the pretext that she was "funding a Palestinian militant organization."