He received a phone call from an Israeli intelligence officer ordering him to stop working

A Palestinian activist sticks to his human rights work despite the danger of his arrest

Palestinians throw stones at the occupation forces.

AFP

In his office in downtown Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, human rights activist Shawan Jabarin constantly fears the sudden arrival of Israeli forces to take him to prison, after a campaign it launched against a number of NGOs accusing them of links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

"I do not want to be arrested, but if this is the price of defending human rights and continuing to talk about an oppressive regime, then I am ready," said Jabarin, 62, the director general of the human rights organization Al-Haq.

On August 18, Israeli forces raided the offices of Al-Haq, a nongovernmental organization that advocates for Palestinian rights, and the premises of six other NGOs in Ramallah.

This came about 10 months after the Israeli Ministry of Defense classified these organizations as “terrorist” because of their alleged relationship with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Palestinian organizations rejected the accusations, saying that Israel was trying to silence defenders of Palestinian rights.

Jabarin says that after the raid, he received phone calls from an Israeli intelligence officer who identified himself as Fadi, asking him to stop working with a “terrorist organization.”

The Israeli intelligence service (Shin Bet) did not respond to AFP's inquiries about the matter.

"My work is not a job, it's a belief, it's international law and human rights," Jabarin says. "We have to stick to our commitments."

"This is the moment of truth and we have to decide, maybe we will pay a price on a personal level," he added.

In the nineties of the last century, Jabarin began his work as a field researcher in the human rights organization and was then repeatedly subjected to administrative detention, an Israeli procedure that allows the detainee under investigation to be imprisoned without charges.

In 1985, Jabarin was sentenced to nine months in prison after being convicted of recruiting members for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Last March, Palestinian lawyer Salah Hammouri, who works for the Conscience Foundation for Prisoner Care and Human Rights, was subjected to administrative detention and is still detained.

In 2006, Jabarin became director of Al-Haq and led a campaign to brand Israel's treatment of the Palestinians as representing an "apartheid" system.

Israel rejects this characterization adopted by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

Jabarin believes that his organization "crossed the red line" by using the term apartheid, which prompted Israel to classify it on the terrorist list.

He adds, "They (Israel) failed to close the institution and to drain its resources.

They came up with the idea of ​​using state power and declaring us a terrorist organization.”

He continues, "They did this to discredit us and spread fear in the hearts of our partners and financiers."

Palestinian security sources and civil associations confirmed that the Israeli army closed with red wax the institutions of Al-Haq - Law for Humanity, Conscience for Prisoner Care and Human Rights, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Union of Working Women’s Committees, Health Work Committees, Union of Agricultural Work Committees, and the International Movement for Defense of Children .

In Europe, nine countries have committed to continue their funding of Al-Haq and other human rights groups banned from Israel.

Asked a European diplomat, who preferred not to be named, in response to a question by AFP, "Israel has not listened to us yet, so why do we think that our condemnation will make a difference this time?"

As for Addameer Foundation director Sahar Francis, she points out that in the event of Jabarin's arrest, "the international community is fully aware that issuing a statement will not be enough."

"This is the time for action," adds Francis, a longtime colleague and friend of Jabareen.

According to Francis, “Shawan’s legacy is not a job, but a message that he always sends, through which he says that he is ready to pay the full price for his work.”

Jabarin, who has received the support of many directors of non-governmental organizations and 45 Israeli organizations, says that he has no alternative but to continue to run Al-Haq, “there is no alternative plan,” and concludes that going to prison “is not my choice, but if it is imposed on me, I will certainly not weaken.” ».

9 European countries have committed to continue their funding of Al-Haq and other human rights groups banned from Israel.

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