UK-based NGOs slam restriction on entry to Israel

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The representatives of various U.K.-based non-profit organizations reacted on Monday to a recent ban on their members from entering Israel.

Israel on Sunday banned representatives of 20 NGOs working in the country from its territory due to their support for a campaign opposed to the occupation of Palestine.

According to Israeli daily Haaretz, 20 organizations, including 11 European and 6 U.S. groups, have been included in the ban due to their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Asad Rehman, the executive director of War on Want, one of the organizations blacklisted by Israel, said the move is part of a wider crackdown on the BDS movement.

“It is a desperate attempt to silence a growing movement that is holding Israel accountable for its systematic abuse of Palestinian rights and persistent violations of international law,” Rehman said.

Rehman urged the British government to condemn “this latest crackdown on human rights defenders” through measures such as the "suspension of trade ties with Israel, including the arms trade".

He called the Israeli move similar to the tactics used by the apartheid regime in South Africa when it tried to censor critics.

'Stifle voice of dissent'

Ismail Patel, the chair of the Friends of Al-Aqsa, said, “the blacklist clearly demonstrates how far Israel is willing to go to stifle the legitimate voice of dissent".

“Rather than change its disastrous occupation policies, Israel is preoccupying itself with campaigns of harassment against anyone who dares to criticize its inhuman treatment of Palestinians. We won’t end BDS until Israel ends its occupation," he said.

Patel said Israel was using the ban as a smokescreen to reach its real goal: Jerusalem.

"With fewer visitors to support Palestinians in Jerusalem, Israel appears to be in its final phase before occupying the holy site," he said.

Hugh Lanning, the chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: "[The campaign] should be a wake-up call for the U.K. government and all those who continue to describe Israel as a normal, liberal democracy.

“Liberal democracies do not prevent entry to individuals whose only offense is to draw attention to human rights abuses and to call for non-violent action to address them. Only states that wish to protect their ability to act unjustly behave in this way.”

Ben Jamal, a director at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said the move prevents peaceful human rights activists like him, who are of Palestinian origin and have family and friends in Palestine, from entering Israel.

Israel's blacklist includes: the France-Palestine Solidarity Association, the British War on Want, BDS France and Italy, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, the Friends of Al-Aqsa, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the American Friends Service Committee, the American Muslims for Palestine, the Jewish Voice for Peace, the Code Pink and the National Students for Justice in Palestine.

BDS Chile and South Africa are also on the list, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

The BDS movement is a global campaign to put more economic and political pressure on Israel to end violations of international law.