(Photo: Claudia Gabriela Marques Vieira/Flickr Creative Commons)
Elham Asaad Buaras
Israel has blacklisted 20 NGOs from its territory due to their support of a campaign opposed to the illegal occupation of Palestinian Territories.
According to Israeli daily Haaretz, Israel published a blacklist of 11 European and 6 American NGOs, due to their support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.
Strategic Affairs Minister, Gilad Erdan, said: “We have shifted from defence to offence. The boycott organisations should know that the state of Israel will act against them and not allow [them] to enter its territory.”
The organisation blacklisted include the France-Palestine Solidarity Association, British War on Want, BDS France and Italy, European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine, Code Pink, Jewish Voice for Peace, and National Students for Justice in Palestine. BDS Chile and South Africa are also on the list.
A spokesman for IPSC said, “The Israeli apartheid regime fears solidarity so much. It seeks to stop us from visiting our friends and colleagues in the Palestine-Israel region.
Although appalling, saddening and manifestly anti-democratic, the IPSC views its appearance on this list as a badge of honour and a vindication of our work in solidarity with the people of Palestine over the past 16 years.”
“We will not stop our campaigning work for freedom, justice and equality for the Palestinian people. This anti-democratic move is to be robustly condemned – and the IPSC will be making representations to the Irish government and elected representatives,” added IPSC.
The BDS movement is a global campaign to put more economic and political pressure on Israel to end violations of international law.
The campaign was launched “to end international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law,” according to its website.
Musicians Roger Waters and Elvis Costello have cancelled shows in Israel in support of the campaign.
