<div dir="ltr">
<div class="gmail-top-anchor"></div>
<div id="gmail-toolbar" class="gmail-toolbar-container">
</div><div class="gmail-container" dir="ltr" lang="undefined">
<div class="gmail-header gmail-reader-header gmail-reader-show-element">
<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_raid_and_seal_shut_dcip_office_leaving_official_notice_declaring_organization_unlawful?utm_campaign=2022_office_raid_us&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dcipalestine">dci-palestine.org</a>
<div class="gmail-domain-border"></div>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Israeli forces raid and seal shut DCIP office, leaving official notice declaring organization unlawful</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits"></div><strong>Ramallah, August 18, 2022—</strong><span>Israeli
forces raided Defense for Children International - Palestine’s
headquarters in the central occupied West Bank early Thursday morning.</span></div><div class="gmail-content"><div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div>
<p><span>Israeli forces raided DCIP’s headquarters located in Al-Bireh’s
Sateh Marhaba neighborhood, located just south of Ramallah around 5:55
a.m. on August 18. More than a dozen Israeli soldiers forced open the
office’s locked front door and removed a computer, photocopier, printer,
and client files related to Palestinian child detainees represented by
DCIP’s lawyers in Israel’s military courts, CCTV footage showed. They
exited the office after 45 minutes, welding shut the entry door and<span> leaving a notice taped to the door ordering the office closed declaring DCIP an illegal organization</span>. It is unclear exactly what items were confiscated.</span></p>
<p><span>“Our human rights documentation and evidence-based advocacy
exposing Israeli forces’ grave violations against Palestinian children
has made us a target of the Israeli government for years,” said Khaled
Quzmar, General Director at DCIP. “Sealing and closing our office will
not silence us. We reject the Israeli designation and any repressive
tactics aimed at eliminating our work and urge the international
community to robustly denounce this serious escalation against
Palestinian human rights defenders.”</span></p>
<p><span>Video surveillance footage from inside the DCIP office shows
Israeli forces entering the premises at 5:55 a.m. The Israeli soldiers
move through the DCIP office inspecting, gathering, and removing random
items and files, and then they exit at 6:40 a.m. They welded the door
shut and taped a military order to the door effectively closing the DCIP
office.</span></p>
<p><span>The raid on the DCIP office was part of a series of early
morning raids against the six prominent Palestinian human rights and
civil society organizations criminalized by Israeli authorities in
October 2021, including Addameer, Al-Haq, DCIP, the Union of
Agricultural Work Committees, the Bisan Center for Research and
Development, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees. The groups
work directly with Palestinian women and girls, children, peasant
families, prisoners, and civil society activists, providing direct
services and monitoring and exposing human rights abuses.</span></p>
<p><span>Israeli Minister of Defense, Benny Gantz, designated the six
Palestinian human rights and civil society groups as “terrorist
organizations” on October 19, 2021, pursuant to a 2016 Israeli law, a
designation that effectively criminalizes the activities of these
organizations and authorizes Israeli authorities to close their offices,
seize their assets, and arrest and jail their staff members.</span></p>
<p><span>In July, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden released a </span><a href="https://www.government.nl/documents/diplomatic-statements/2022/07/12/joint-statement-on-the-israeli-designation-of-palestinian-civil-society-organisations-as-terrorist-organisations"><span>joint statement</span></a><span>
on the Israeli designations stating that “no substantial information
was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards
the six Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to
designate these NGOs as 'terrorist organizations.” The nine countries
declared, “in the absence of such evidence, we will continue our
cooperation and strong support for the civil society in the oPT.” </span></p>
<p><span>On July 18, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and 21 other members of Congress sent a </span><a href="https://pressley.house.gov/sites/pressley.house.gov/files/2022%2007%2018%20Sec%20Blinken%20Dir%20Haines%20Palestinian%20NGO%20Letter%20Rep%20Pressley%20vF.pdf"><span>letter</span></a><span>
to Biden administration officials demanding action on behalf of six
prominent Palestinian human rights organizations designated as
“terrorist” groups by Israeli authorities. The letter, addressed to
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Director of National
Intelligence Avril Haines, calls on the Biden administration to publicly
reject the Israeli designation, urge the Israeli government to reverse
its decision, and confirm a date for an inter-agency briefing and
provide a report to Congress within 30 days. </span></p>
<p><span>In February, DCIP joined other leading Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations to file a </span><a href="https://www.dci-palestine.org/dcip_demands_israeli_military_cancel_declaration_as_unlawful_association"><span>procedural objection</span></a><span> to the decision by Israeli military authorities declaring DCIP and other groups “unlawful associations.”</span></p>
<p><span>The objection demands the immediate cancelation of an Israeli
military order declaring DCIP and other leading Palestinian human rights
and civil society groups “unlawful associations” pursuant to the 1945
Emergency (Defense) Regulations. It emphasizes that the Israeli
authorities’ declaration amounts to a blatant and serious violation of
international law, including denial of due process and fair trial
guarantees by relying on alleged “secret evidence” in Israeli military
courts that are neither independent nor impartial.</span></p>
<p><span>Government and United Nations officials, including </span><a href="https://www.dci-palestine.org/un_experts_condemn_israeli_military_raid_on_dcip"><span>human rights experts</span></a><span>,
have condemned the designation and called upon Israeli authorities to
reverse the designation immediately and cease efforts to criminalize
human rights work. Many solidarity statements have been issued by trade
unions, academics, editorial boards, human rights and development
organizations, celebrities and artists, and individuals.</span></p>
<p><span>Israeli paramilitary border police forces </span><a href="https://www.dci-palestine.org/israeli_forces_raid_dcip_office_confiscate_computers_and_client_files"><span>previously raided</span></a><span>
DCIP’s headquarters on July 29, 2021. More than a dozen Israeli
soldiers forced open the office’s locked front door and confiscated six
desktop computers, two laptops, hard drives, and client files related to
Palestinian child detainees represented by DCIP’s lawyers in Israel’s
military courts. No documents were left in the office to give any
indication of the reason for the raid, and they did not leave behind any
receipt of materials seized.</span></p></div></div></div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
<div></div>
</div>
</div>