Over 100 celebrities have signed an open letter criticizing the Israeli government for designating six Palestinian human rights groups as terrorist organizations. The letter calls on the international community to push for the designation to be rescinded.
“The vital work of these six organizations to protect and empower Palestinians and hold Israel accountable for its gross human rights violations and apartheid regime of institutionalized racial discrimination is precisely the work that Israel is trying to end,” reads the letter. “Israel’s designation of these six Palestinian organizations as ‘terrorist’ groups, and the military order that outlaws them places the safety of the organizations and their staff at imminent risk.”
Signatories include Peter Gabriel, Mark Ruffalo, Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tilda Swinton, David Byrne, Jim Jarmusch, Laura Poitras, Julie Christie, Philip Pullman, Brian Eno, Roger Waters, Ken Loach, Yanis Varoufakis, Laurie Anderson, Thurston Moore, Alfonso Cuaron, Costa Gavras, Irvine Welsh, Simon Pegg, Jarvis Cocker, Rashid Khalidi, Naomi Klein, and the band Massive Attack.
You can find the entire list of signers here.
In October Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz claimed that Addameer, Al-Haq, Defense for Children International – Palestine, the Bisan Centre for Research and Development, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees were all connected to terrorism. Earlier this month Israeli officials presented the Biden administration dossier that allegedly proved these charges. However, +972, Local Call, and The Intercept obtained copies of the documents and reported that they contained no such proof.
“The threat of retaliation is real, and puts at risk not just the organizations themselves, but the entire Palestinian civil society and the tens of thousands of Palestinians they serve everyday,” concludes the letter. “To this end, we call on all persons of conscience across the globe to stand with us. We call on the international community to #StandWithThe6 and protect Palestinian human rights defenders, and demand that Israel rescind the terrorist designations immediately.”
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