Help promote human rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Donate Today
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube
Search
Close
  • English
  • العربية
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • Israel-Palestine
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
  • International Actors
    • DAWN's Advocacy
    • USA
    • Aid Conditionality
    • THE LOBBYIST HALL OF SHAME​
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Experts
  • Latest
Menu
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • Israel-Palestine
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
  • International Actors
    • DAWN's Advocacy
    • USA
    • Aid Conditionality
    • THE LOBBYIST HALL OF SHAME​
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Experts
  • Latest
Donate

'Why They Needed to Silence Us.' Sahar Francis of Palestinian NGO Addameer on Israel's 'Terrorist' Designations

April 14, 2022
in Democracy In Exile
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Post Author
  • Michael Omer-Man

    Michael Omer-Man is the Director of Research for Israel-Palestine at DAWN.

    View all posts

عربي

In the nearly six months since declaring it and five other Palestinian NGOs "terrorist" organizations, the Israeli government has not taken any steps to shutter Addameer, which supports Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. This is certainly not because Israel lacks the means.

After all, the Israeli army had broken into Addameer's Ramallah offices and seized equipment and documents three times in recent years, but it has not done so since the designation last fall. Israel famously placed the organization's former director, Khalida Jarrar, under administrative detention on numerous occasions in the past, but it has made no attempt to arrest, detain or even question its current leadership despite branding them as "terrorists."

This all highlights the absurdity of designating human rights NGOs as supposed terrorist groups while taking no steps to halt their activities or arrest their leaders. But that does not mean the designations are without consequence, as the director of Addameer, Sahar Francis, explained in a recent interview with DAWN. Indeed, Israel's decision to use—or misuse—anti-terror legislation against these groups means that they and their employees live in constant fear of arrest, military raids, travel bans, and sanctions from the banking system, international donors and foreign governments.

For the time being, Israel, and the Western governments it has briefed on the "terrorist" designations, have taken no action. According to numerous reports, Western diplomats, who were shown two secret Israeli dossiers purportedly containing evidence against the groups, dismissed them as insufficient and unconvincing.

Founded in 1992, Addameer provides support to Palestinians arrested and imprisoned by Israel, largely through free legal aid, but also through local and international advocacy. It has made submissions to the International Criminal Court over Israel's deportation of prisoners, including minors, out of the occupied territory to hold them in prisons inside Israel, against international law. Addameer advocates against Israel's use of administrative detention, in which almost exclusively Palestinians are held without charge or trial, subjected to poor detention conditions and reportedly torture.

According to the latest data available, from March of this year, Israel currently holds 490 Palestinians in administrative detention, at least three of whom are journalists. In recent years, numerous Palestinians held in administrative detention have gone on extended hunger strikes to demand that Israel either charge them with a crime or release them. In almost every case, Israel has chosen to release them.

Currently, these Palestinian detainees are boycotting Israel's military courts in protest of the secretive, unaccountable practice that leaves them with no option to defend themselves. In some cases, Israeli officials do not even tell the detainees what crimes the Israeli government is accusing them of or fears that they may commit.

In her interview, Francis discussed these Palestinian prisoners and explained why, while she was not surprised by Israel's terrorist designations for Addameer and the other Palestinian NGOs, there should be more international pressure on Israel "to totally revoke this decision."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

We are under Israeli attack because of the kind of work we are doing on the ground—because we are succeeding in protecting and supporting farmers, prisoners, children, woman and all other vulnerable groups in Palestinian society.

- Sahar Francis

Can you explain what administrative detention is and how Israel uses it?

Administrative detention was actually taken from the British security regulations of 1945 [in then-Mandate Palestine]. It enables the military government to arrest anyone based on secret information, from one month up to six months. Israel later amended the legislation and incorporated it into its legal system, domestically in Israeli criminal law, and in the occupied territories through military orders.

So now the Israeli military commander in the occupied territories—or the Israeli minister of security inside the state—can issue an administrative detention order for up to six months and they can renew it indefinitely. It can be used against anyone, whether woman, child or man, activists or student political leaders. Anyone can be subjected to administrative detention.

Palestinian administrative detainees are currently boycotting the Israeli military courts. How long has that been going on, and is there a demand attached to it, or is it an indefinite boycott? What led to it?

They started boycotting the military courts on Jan. 1, 2022, but this came after a long time of individual hunger strikes against the policy of administrative detention. The main problems are the indefinite period that you can spend in administrative detention, and that detainees believe the military courts are not a real source of judicial review and appeals.

They see in most cases that the court affirms the [administrative detention] orders as the military commander issued them. They do not have many ways to fight back against this policy, so they decided to jointly boycott the entire legal procedure to send a message that they are against the use of administrative detention.

How many Palestinians are currently held by Israel in administrative detention?

Around 500, but the number changes daily. Lately, we are seeing an increase in new military administrative detention orders, but it is being used inside the state of Israel as well now. There were a few cases in the last couple of weeks where Israel issued administrative detention orders, especially after the militant attacks in Israeli cities.

Can you tell me about the case of Salah Hamouri, who works for your organization and is currently in Israeli administrative detention?

Salah has been facing a long period of persecution and harassment. Currently, he has been in prison for three months of administrative detention, but it is not the first time. Since 2011, this is the third time he has been placed under administrative detention.

He is a resident of Jerusalem—as well as a French citizen—and his residency was revoked by the Israeli minister of the interior back in October 2021 on the claim that he broke allegiance to the state—again, based on secret information. Salah has also faced restrictions on entering the West Bank. He was forbidden from staying in his city of Jerusalem for six months. His wife was deported back to France a couple of years ago, and now his wife and two children are not allowed to visit him in the country.

Salah was also targeted for surveillance with Pegasus spyware. We discovered this when we found that six other colleagues from the Palestinian human rights organizations who were designated were targeted with Pegasus. So Salah has been facing harassment and attacks for several years based on the claim that they have secret information that he's still politically active and a threat to security.

We were targeted for discussing more seriously war crimes and crimes against humanity, for the work we are doing with the International Criminal Court, and for highlighting the colonial and apartheid aspects of Israel's control over the Palestinian people.

- Sahar Francis

But he has not been convicted of a crime based on this information?

Exactly. The first case that Salah was convicted in was a long time ago. He was sentenced to seven years, and was released in an exchange deal in 2011 in the Gilad Shalit case—he almost finished all his seven years, he had only three months left in his sentence. Since then, he has never been convicted of a crime, only placed in administrative detention. That is why we claim this is persecution.

Israel categorizes prisoners as "criminal prisoners" or "security prisoners," with Palestinians usually called security prisoners. Palestinians tend to categorize them more as political prisoners. How should the international community view Israel's detainment and imprisonment of Palestinians?

The Israeli policy of imprisonment aims to control the whole of Palestinian society. The majority of the 5,000 Palestinians currently in Israeli prisons are there for being involved in political activities, in student activities, for peacefully resisting the occupation by participating in demonstrations against the wall, against settlements, for incitement on Facebook and social media. The way Israel tries to portray Palestinian prisoners—that all these people are involved in militant activities—is not at all true.

That is why we claim all these prisoners are arrested because of the conflict, because they were criticizing and resisting the occupation. Israel is using imprisonment to maintain its occupation and to promote its annexation policies. Whenever you attack a whole village that resists the expansion of a settlement, like is taking place in Beita, and you arrest the activists who are defending their land and opposing the expansion of the settlement, it is very clear that your aim is to control this village and to enable the settlers to expand their settlement.

Your organization was one of six Palestinian civil society and human rights organizations that Israel designated as terrorist organizations without presenting any credible evidence. What do you think Israel is trying to accomplish with these designations?

The designations are part of a long history of harassment and smear campaigns against Palestinian civil society organizations, including these six organizations. It is not something that came suddenly. We are under Israeli attack because of the kind of work we are doing on the ground—because we are succeeding in protecting and supporting farmers, prisoners, children, woman and all other vulnerable groups in Palestinian society.

We were targeted because we were making friends on the international level with relation to special procedures and mechanisms in the U.N. We were targeted for bringing new narratives and discussing more seriously war crimes and crimes against humanity, for the work we are doing with the International Criminal Court, and for highlighting the colonial and apartheid aspects of Israel's control over the Palestinian people and highlighting the root causes of this conflict.

That is why they needed to silence us, to dry out our resources and to attack us. This is what they were trying to do in this long smear campaign in the past decade or so. When they failed in those efforts, they used this—what they pretend is a legal way, but which we claim is a manipulation of anti-terror laws.

This is also what the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights [Michelle Bachelet] confirmed to the U.N. Human Rights Council—that this is a manipulation and misuse of anti-terror laws at the international level.

We believe it is not going to affect just the six organizations; it is going to affect the whole of Palestinian civil society. It could also be taken by other states as an example of how to attack human rights organizations and human rights defenders based on secret information.

And how have the designations affected you or Addameer's work so far? How do you think they may affect you in the future?

Of course, it is making our work very difficult. Although we can open the office and continue our work, we are under a daily threat. Any day, any time, we could be raided, our office could be shut down, and I and my colleagues could be arrested—like Salah Hamouri—and either prosecuted or placed under administrative detention.

They can go to the banks and confiscate our money and seal our accounts. They can place restrictions on movement, on travel outside the country or even limit our ability to travel [from] one area to another area [within the country]. There are lots of ways they can directly affect our work, but so far, the only thing we face is the arrest of our colleague Salah Hamouri.

But we expect that because of the international campaign [opposing the designations] that they decided to make our case low profile. In the future, maybe they will take more measures. This is why it's very important that at the international level, organizations and states should put more pressure on Israel to totally revoke this decision.

It can't be tolerated that the Israeli side decides not to revoke them, even if they send a message that they are not taking any further steps. In that case, banks or donors will take measures themselves so that they don't risk collaborating with "illegal" entities, with "terrorist" groups.

Sahar Francis, director of Palestinian NGO Addameer, during a press conference at the offices of al-Haq, another Palestinian NGO also targeted by Israel, in Ramallah, Nov. 8, 2021. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Source: Getty IMages

Tags: Israel-PalestineOccupied Palestinian Territories (OPT)PalestinePalestinian civil societyPalestinian NGOsPalestinians
Previous Post

Egypt: Ayman Hadhoud, Economist Disappeared by Government, Dies in State Custody

Next Post

Rights Groups Renew Call for Freedom of Waleed Abu al-Khair on Eighth Year Anniversary of His Arrest

Related Posts

GAZA CITY, GAZA - MAY 24: A Palestinian girl stands amid the rubble of her destroyed house in Beit Hanun town northern Gaza Strip,on May 24, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza. Gaza residents continue clean up operations as they return to damaged and destroyed homes as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding into a fourth day. The ceasefire brings to an end eleven days of fighting which killed more than 250 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 13 Israelis. The conflict began on May 10th after rising tensions in East Jerusalem and clashes at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. (Photo by Fatima Shbair/Getty Images)
Democracy In Exile

'Door on the Road,' a Poem From Gaza

"In the Refugee Camp, / after the explosion, a door flies into a far street, / rests near a...

Mosab Abu Toha
May 13, 2022
Democracy In Exile

Why the UAE Wants to Be Club Med for the World's Kleptocrats

The United Arab Emirates has become one of the world’s leading money laundromats. It's not just a money-making scheme,...

Andreas Krieg
May 12, 2022
Democracy In Exile

The Clashing Narratives That Keep the U.S. and Iran at Odds

The impasse in talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal is not surprising. The situation is fraught in both...

John Tirman
May 10, 2022
Democracy In Exile

Demolishing the Beirut Port Silos Will Deepen Lebanon's Collective Amnesia

Lebanon’s political class is determined to erase yet another one of its crime scenes: the site of the 2020...

Soha Mneimneh
May 6, 2022
Next Post

Rights Groups Renew Call for Freedom of Waleed Abu al-Khair on Eighth Year Anniversary of His Arrest

GAZA CITY, GAZA - MAY 24: A Palestinian girl stands amid the rubble of her destroyed house in Beit Hanun town northern Gaza Strip,on May 24, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza. Gaza residents continue clean up operations as they return to damaged and destroyed homes as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding into a fourth day. The ceasefire brings to an end eleven days of fighting which killed more than 250 Palestinians, many of them women and children, and 13 Israelis. The conflict began on May 10th after rising tensions in East Jerusalem and clashes at the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. (Photo by Fatima Shbair/Getty Images)

'Door on the Road,' a Poem From Gaza

May 13, 2022

Why the UAE Wants to Be Club Med for the World's Kleptocrats

May 12, 2022
NABLUS, WEST BANK - MAY 11: Press members holding photos of female reporter of Al-Jazeera television channel Shireen Abu Akleh, died as a result of fire opened by Israeli soldiers, are seen in front of the hospital as Akleh's dead body is brought to Al- Najah Hospital for autopsy in Nablus, West Bank on May 11, 2022. (Photo by Nedal Eshtayah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

U.S.: Investigate Israeli Killing of Palestinian-American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

May 11, 2022

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Aid Conditionality
  • Anonymous Interviews
  • Anonymous Interviews Egypt
  • Anonymous Interviews Saudi Arabia
  • Anonymous Interviews UAE
  • Cases
  • Cases Egypt
  • Cases Saudi Arabia
  • Cases UAE
  • Countries
  • Culprits
  • Culprits Egypt
  • Culprits Saudi Arabia
  • Culprits UAE
  • DAWN
  • Dawn's Advocacy
  • Democracy In Exile
  • Editor's Pick
  • Egypt
  • Feature
  • Fellows
  • Foreign Policy
  • Human Rights
  • International Actors
  • Lobbyists
  • Palestine
  • Political prisoners
  • Press Release Egypt
  • Press Release Israel-Palestine
  • Press Release Saudi Arabia
  • Press Release UAE
  • Press Releases
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Uncategorized
  • United Nations
  • US – Egypt
  • US – Saudi Arabia
  • US – UAE
  • USA

SUPPORT OUR MISSION

Donate Today

About Us

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights for all of the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Support Us

Donate Now

Newsletter

Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube

© DAWN All rights reserved. | Website Design by KRS Creative.

DONATE TODAY