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Protection of Space for Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders­—The Case of Israel and Palestine

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Protection of Space for Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders­—The Case of Israel and Palestine Protection of Space for Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders —The Case of Israel and Palestine Protection of Space for Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders The Case of Israel and Palestine Contents Preface ............................................................................................................................. 3 1 | The context ................................................................................................................ 4 2 | About this report ....................................................................................................... 5 3 | New era, new measures? ......................................................................................... 6 4 | CSO “disenabling” measures in evidence ................................................................10 4.1 | In the OPT ........................................................................................................10 4.2 | In Israel ............................................................................................................15 4.3 | Other challenges faced by civil society in Israel and the OPT ........................19 5 | Recommended actions .............................................................................................20 ACTIONS FOR EU, MEMBER STATES AND OTHER STATE ACTORS ................................20 ACTIONS FOR ACT ALLIANCE MEMBERS/INTERNATIONAL NGOS ..............................21 6 | References .................................................................................................................23 Annex—KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN ISRAEL AND THE OPT IN 2016–2017 .............................................................................................25 Cover image: Palestinian family in Jenin refugee camp Photo: Dominika Zarzycka/Shutterstock 2 | Preface Civil society organisations in the Middle East type of organisation and the nature of their and across the globe are actively working work; and reveal the associated complex on a wide range of issues including service and restrictive legal and policy framework. delivery, cultural, social and religious Among others, these restrictions range from activities, human rights support, development INGO’s inability to register, physical threats and humanitarian response. Through these and harassment and deliberate campaigns organizations, the expressions of people’s to defame and stigmatise them, restrictive concern for their fellow citizens, for the globe financial measures, and of movement and for a better future are raised. resulting from the occupation. Many of these organisations speak out The recommendations contained in and act against the conditions, structures this study are targeted towards the EU and systems which increase vulnerability, institutions and EU countries, albeit their perpetuate poverty, injustice and the applicability to contexts beyond Europe destruction of the environment; so does the to which we encourage their wide reach ACT Alliance. to varying institutions globally. The ACT members authoring this study have more In the prevailing operating environment, proximity to the EU hence the deliberate more and more civil society organisations targeting to such. are faced with restrictions and high risks to their operations and staff. This trend is It is my hope that the recommendations in growing globally and it is not uncommon to this study are heard and steps are taken to ACT Alliance members and their partners, protect civil society space. ACT Alliance not the least in the occupied Palestinian takes the issue of an enabling environment territories and Israel (OPT/I). In this 50th seriously, demonstrated by prior work on year of occupation, this study reveals that this subject by the ACT Alliance Community pressure on civil society organisations in the of Practice on Human Rights. It is also my OPT/I is multifaceted and increasing. hope that this work will continue to grow and This report is based on a study that was ACT members globally who are working in conducted in 2016, and an updated analysis demanding situations will help to catapult that was carried out in 2017, and identifies it to higher levels and create a formidable a variety of hindrances to CSO operations network on it, enabling the alliance to in the OPT/I. Both studies confirm that continue bringing hope to vulnerable restrictions are experienced differently situations and reaching out to people depending on the geographical context, needing our services most. Rudelmar Bueno de Faria General Secretary Protection of Space for Civil Society and Human Rights Defenders—The Case of Israel and Palestine | 3 1 | The context According to the CIVICUS 2016 State of as the Palestinian citizens of Israel, form the the Civil Society Report (CIVICUS, 2016), focus of much of the human rights activity over 100 countries have faced serious undertaken by Israeli and Palestinian CSOs. As restrictions and threats to civic freedoms acknowledged in the respective EU Country in 2015—taking the form of, among others, Road Maps for Engagement with Civil Society, new legislation, legal or administrative 2014-17, there is a growing tendency for both action and the persecution of human rights the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli defenders. The Arab world is no exception Government to portrait and perceive human to this trend, particularly since the onset of rights organizations as a threat. This view the Arab Spring (ibid). This report, based was confirmed by the Israeli and Palestinian on extensive research carried out in 2015 human rights actors interviewed for this report. and 2016 and subsequently updated, seeks to address the situation for civil society This report will argue that unprecedented organizations (CSOs) in general and human restrictions are being imposed on certain rights organizations and defenders (HRDs) in segments of Israeli and Palestinian civil particular, within the context of Israel and the society. Pressure on the space for civil society Occupied Palestinian Territory (I/OPT). within I/OPT is intensifying within the context of an Israeli political climate dominated Civil society in both Israel and the OPT is by government attempts to consolidate a vibrant and dynamic, comprising of active sympathetic electoral base to occupation and very diverse CSOs (some thousands in and a Palestinian political climate marked each jurisdiction). CSOs of various levels by a general deterioration in democratic of institutionalization, from grassroots to checks and balances resulting from the ever- internationally connected NGOs work on deepening split between Fatah and Hamas, a wide range of issues including service and within Fatah itself. delivery, cultural, social and religious activities, humanitarian response, and The intensifying attempts to hamper the advocacy on international human rights work of human rights organizations in (IHRL) and on international humanitarian particular is a serious international concern. law (IHL). One component of the civil society Israeli and Palestinian human rights NGOs landscape is the (few hundred) international play a crucial role in monitoring and non-governmental organizations (INGOs) securing accountability for the violations of engaging in development and humanitarian international humanitarian law and human programming as well as IHL and IHRL rights by Israeli and Palestinian groups— advocacy while acting as donors and violations that must be addressed to achieve partners of local CSOs (EU Country Road both an improvement of the humanitarian Map for Engagement with Civil Society, situation in the West Bank and Gaza and to Palestine, 2014). achieve the realization of a sustainable and just peace. The silencing of human rights and State-civil society relations in I/OPT are anti-occupation voices presents the risk of inevitably shaped and influenced by the devastating consequences for the fulfilment of Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the occupation Palestinian rights, Israeli democracy and for of the West Bank and Gaza. The rights of the prospects of peace. Palestinians living under occupation, as well 4 | 2 | About this report In 2015, against the backdrop of an A key finding of the 2016 Study was that intensified crackdown on human rights and while a majority of Israeli CSOs operate anti-occupation voices and in line with a in relative freedom, the space is rapidly concern for the global shrinking space for shrinking for organizations that are working its partners in the global south, a number of for an end to the occupation, on IHL and members of the ACT Alliance, a coalition of IHRL in the occupied Palestinian territory 144 churches and faith-based organisations and for the human rights of the Palestinian working together in over 100 countries, citizens of Israel. This report focuses on commissioned research to examine the human rights actors, including Human dynamics of civil society in the OPT and Rights Defenders (HRDs), as a subset of Israel. The objective of the study by S. Van wider civil society who have recognized their Drunen, N. Shabana and Y. Drier Shilo, role in holding states accountable for their hereafter referred to as the 2016 Study, was actions (Yavne, 2017). to gather evidence and reflect on the current state of civic spaces from a CSO perspective, Building on the findings of the 2016 locally and internationally. The 2016 Study Study and a series of new semi-structured compared the situation to the previous five interviews (SSIs) with key local human years. rights
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