Crackdown on Palestinian civil society: Union of Agricultural Work Committees raided by Israel

 https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/crackdown-palestinian-civil-society-union-agricultural-work-committees-raided-enar

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•                   OHCHR

Originally published

3 Dec 2025

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Crackdown on Palestinian civil society: Union of Agricultural Work Committees raided

On Monday, 1 December, Israeli security forces raided and vandalised the offices of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), a Palestinian non-governmental organisation, in Ramallah and Hebron. This comes amidst an escalating Israeli targeting of Palestinian civil society and human rights defenders, most recently in the context of the olive harvest season.

UAWC is one of six leading Palestinian civil society organisations designated as “terrorist” by Israeli authorities in 2021 based on an Israeli legislation that has vague and broad definitions of terrorism and terrorist organisations, which not only risks but has demonstrably led to unjustifiable restrictions on human rights. To date, no evidence was provided to substantiate the accusations. Licensed under Palestinian law, UAWC has long provided support to Palestinian rural communities and Palestinian farmers facing settler violence and the risk of forced displacement. The attack on UAWC followed weeks of harassment and public incitement by Israeli settlers and leaders of settler groups, particularly citing UAWC’s work during the olive harvest season.

This year’s olive harvest season is the most violent on record, with 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities recorded as of 12 November. Increasingly, attacks by settlers and Israeli security forces targeted not only farmers, but also human rights defenders and organisations supporting them against settler violence. Since 1 October, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has recorded 81 violations by Israeli security forces and/or settlers against human rights defenders, protective presence activists and NGOs supporting Palestinians against settler violence and settlement expansion, including 48 cases of arrest and detention and 22 acts of physical assault.

Unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detention, and torture or other forms of ill-treatment are permanent features in the conduct of Israeli security forces against Palestinians and Palestinian activists. During the raid, Israeli security forces reportedly kept the people who were present at UAWC premises blindfolded and handcuffed, kneeling down, or with their faces down on the floor for several hours and detained eight men.

The conduct of Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is massively shrinking both the physical and the civic space available to Palestinians, while Israel continues to advance its unlawful annexation of the occupied West Bank.

“The legal way forward is clear: Israel must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and remove all settlers in accordance with the conclusions of the International Court of Justice,” said Ajith Sunghay, the Head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “In the meantime, Israel is an occupying power with extensive duties under international law, including respecting, protecting and ensuring the fulfilment of Palestinians’ human rights, such as the rights to earn a living, and to freedom of expression and association.”

For more information and media requests, please contact:

Mayy El Sheikh – mayy.elsheikh@un.org

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Palestinian female employees in the Telephone and Telecom service, Jerusalem, PALESTINE 1942

Over 200 european organisations urge immediate suspension of the EU-Israel association agreement amidst Gaza crisis

The Transnational Institute is an international research and advocacy institute committed to building a just, democratic and sustainable planet.

 14 March 2024

Dublin, 14/03/2024: Today, a coalition of 206 European civil society groups, 20 of which were based in Ireland, submitted a letter to the EU Commission, the EU Council, and the European Parliament, calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in light of the violation of Human Rights by the State of Israel.

In January, in view of South Africa’s case alleging genocide against the Israeli government, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that some of the accusations indicate that genocide could be plausible in specific instances. The ICJ ordered the Israeli Government to take all measures within its power to prevent acts within the scope of Article II of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Coalition believes that the fact that the ICJ considered South Africa’s claims as ‘plausible’ and has issued provisional measures against the Israeli Government, then this should raise serious alarm bells in the EU. However, Israel’s economy continues to enjoy privileged access to the EU market through the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

The Coalition believes that civil society should stand united in calling for the suspension of the EU-Israel Agreement, and that it’s time for the EU to uphold its commitment to human rights and democratic principles and take concrete action to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The coalition’s letter to the EU stresses that prior to the current hostilities, Palestinians have faced systematic rights violations, including land expropriation, forced evictions, property demolition and restrictions on movement, persisting since 1948.... READ MORE  https://www.bilaterals.org/?suspend-the-eu-israel-association-50079

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Joe Biden and other Western leaders will say all the right words. But what they’re allowing Israel to do in Gaza just makes human rights work harder in the Middle East.

 Muhannad Alazzeh/

December 10, 2023

NO CELEBRATION

It’s International Human Rights Day. Try Telling That to the People of Gaza.

Belal Khaled/Anadolu/Getty Images

Today, December 10, is International Human Rights Day, marking the seventy-fifth anniversary of the landmark Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I am sure that President Biden and other world leaders will all deliver grave speeches paying tribute to the declaration and proclaiming their commitment to it.

I wonder how all this will look to the people of Gaza. The refusal by the Biden administration and most European countries to condemn the killing of Palestinian children and civilians by the thousands constitutes a horrific blow to those working in the field of human rights. This apathy toward civilian Palestinian lives has been a devastating earthquake that has destroyed people’s faith in human rights conventions and international norms.

Over the years, major Western development agencies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars and euros in the Middle East and North Africa to help raise awareness and strengthen human rights, peace, good governance, and transparency. But since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza, those resources and efforts have gone to waste as concepts and principles that have long formed the core focus of these international organizations have been ignored by their governments.

Civil society organizations in Palestine, Jordan, and other countries in the region have canceled activities and events related to human rights, including events for International Human Rights Day. Organizations have also rescheduled the activities to include references to the rights of Gazans because they are embarrassed to talk about human rights conventions.

Talking about human rights has become disconnected from reality, according to many. The mere appearance of the logo of the U.S. Agency for International Cooperation, the European Union, GIZ (the German development agency), and so forth, on platforms or publications has become toxic as perceived by the majority of human rights activists and civil society representatives. It threatens the reputation of anyone who receives funding or participates in activities supported by these entities.

Many human rights defenders in the region feel let down, disappointed, and even guilty about their belief in and cooperation with these agencies during past periods. They cannot find a convincing explanation regarding the hypocritical scenes that prevailed at the Security Council sessions and other forums... READ MORE

https://newrepublic.com/article/177407/international-human-rights-day-gaza

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Today is International Day of the Girl Child! To mark the day, Hina Jilani calls on the international community and civil society to work together to improve the lives of girls and women.

The Elders

“Have the courage to take action. Society is ready to change.”

Today is International Day of the Girl Child! To mark the day, Hina Jilani calls on the international community and civil society to work together to improve the lives of girls and women.

Read her blog: http://theelders.org/article/lets-not-be-afraid-challenge-traditions-harm-girls

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Opinion

Hina Jilani, 11 October 2014

Let's not be afraid to challenge the traditions that harm girls

“Have the courage to take action. Society is ready to change.”

Marking the International Day of the Girl Child, Hina Jilani calls on the international community and civil society to work together to improve the lives of girls and women.

In the international community we talk about the family as being the basic unit of society. Today we see that the family has become the biggest locus of violence, especially against women and children.
If we do not address issues like child marriage, we will never expect the family – or allow it – to become a unit which is able to give dignity and equality to all its members.

Challenging culture and tradition

We need to correct the perception that any harmful practice is a part of what we call culture and tradition, which people can be proud of. Harmful practices should not be equated with culture and tradition.

Even if some parts of the world consider harmful practices a part of culture or tradition, we must remember that those who are harmed by these cultural and traditional practices are women.
Are women not a part of that society? Are they only subjects of culture, with no hand in making culture?

Culture and tradition in themselves evolve out of historical changes. They should not be allowed to become obstructions to change.

International community: have the courage to act

Local and international actors need to understand that child marriage is an issue that has gone from the local to the international. It is not an issue that the international community is using or is imposing on national and local communities.

There are political movements in these countries. I come from such a movement. We don't deal with figures; we leave that to UNICEF and the United Nations. We deal with actual lives, so we are not talking about child marriage and its effects on society, and on girls and women in the abstract. We have faces to show you; we have victims to put before you; and our society has seen those faces.

The international community needs to know that any initiative to eliminate and curb child marriage will receive the weight of those movements behind it.

Have the courage to take action. Society is ready to change – and accept change.

In Pakistan – my country – about two decades ago, there were a significant number of people, myself included who were trying to resist state-sponsored trends, trends which would have decimated women’s and girls’ rights. Instead, there have been legal reforms on child marriage, progressively making it better for women and girls. It’s still inadequate, but when these positive reforms were implemented, there was no resistance from the broader society.

We must work together

Governments should make sure that they have courage to take the step, to ensure that they are not being overcautious. They must not submit to the influence of interest groups, of religious lobbies, of conservative lobbies. This is not the time to either become an apologist or be defensive, or over-romanticise what is certainly something which has proved to be – figures have proved it, data has proved it, research has proved it – definitely harmful for the world’s population, whether they are girls or women.

It is time that local and national movements – and international initiatives – become mutually reinforcing and strengthening. We need to work together to ensure that local initiatives and movements do have an impact. Because local pressure as well as international pressure can force governments to change. To make sure that state social policy and the weight of state social policy is put behind laws – so that these laws have impact.

The work for the defence of human rights must prioritise the welfare and the protection of the girl child.

Governments have the duty to protect. At the same time, civil society also has the duty to promote and defend human rights.

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The Elders were impressed that men in nearby Ambo Meske village were willing to discuss gender equality. Many men have taken part in courses that raise issues such as family care, non-violence, alcohol abuse and sharing domestic duties.