Association France Palestine Solidarité

Communiqués

Monday 8 January 2018

AFPS Press Release

Israel publishes a blacklist of associations and NGOs, including the AFPS, deemed “unwelcome” on its soil: yet another threat to freedom of opinion and access to Occupied Palestine

Claiming to be the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel has banned from entry to its country the members of organizations committed to the fight for respect of international law, thus also prohibiting their access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

All the versions of this article: [English] [français]

A list of 21 organizations and NGOs to which Israel has denied entry was published this Sunday, January 7th, by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs. Our association, the France Palestine Solidarity Association, is included in that list. Our right to visit our Palestinian and Israeli partners is thus under threat.

For the last two years, the State of Israel has been formally setting up a structure to fight organizations around the world that denounce the policy it implements against the Palestinian people in violation of international law. On March 8, 2017, Israel announced a law allowing it to ban entry into its territory to representatives of organizations involved in the BDS campaign [1], and, more generally, all those who oppose its policy vis-à-vis the Palestinian people. It is this law that is being used today by Israel to attempt to silence the growing opposition to its policy around the world.

The list of oppressive laws promulgated in recent years by the far-right Israeli government is a long one. But now, for the first time, Israel is directly and officially targeting citizens of other countries for their opinions.

Already in 2017, the President of the UK Palestine Solidarity Campaign was denied entry into Israel and Palestine, as were five activists of the US organization Jewish Voice for Peace. Recently, French elected officials were barred from entering Israel (and thus Palestine) on the grounds that they had asked to visit Marwan Barghouthi, a renowned Palestinian leader imprisoned by Israel. Many NGO employees and directors have also been investigated and turned away.

Access to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is subject to the goodwill of the State of Israel, the occupying power. The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) is accessible only through Israeli territory, or via Israeli checkpoints, and visitors risk being turned away every time. As for access to the Gaza Strip, it is subject to prior authorization, very rarely granted, from the occupation authorities, effectively transforming this territory into a prison without visitation rights.

The AFPS leads many campaigns, from promoting Palestinian culture to supporting Palestinian human rights defenders. Those campaigns that we lead with our partners in the area of product boycotts, corporate divestment, or sanction requests are carefully weighed and are always explicitly aimed at violations of the law by the State of Israel. Today, it is the whole of our organization, our expression and our actions that are being targeted by the State of Israel.

“The France Palestine Solidarity Association is proud of its campaigns for the respect of international law, human rights, and the national rights of the Palestinian people,” said Bertrand Heilbronn, President of the AFPS. “We will not be intimidated by the Israeli government and will continue all our campaigns. We will immediately request a meeting with the French President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, whom we have already alerted on this subject, so that they protect our freedom of expression and our right to visit our Palestinian and Israeli partners. They must demand that the Israeli government rescind these measures and consider, where appropriate, reciprocity measures.”

The AFPS Executive Board
7 January 2018

[1] In 2005, 172 Palestinian civil society organizations launched the BDS campaign. This campaign aims to pressure Israel to respect international law, namely by demanding it put an end to its occupation and colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and that it comply with all UN resolutions. Boycott is a means of direct citizen action. Divestment concerns companies involved in the occupation and colonization enterprise: they are called upon to divest from these activities. Sanctions concern States, which are called upon to sanction the State of Israel until it complies with international law.