Holy Land: 'Crackdown on civil society is reaching alarming levels'

Olive harvest - Image: OHCHR

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has condemned an Israeli raid on the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in the occupied West Bank, warning that pressure on Palestinian civil society has reached alarming levels.

Israeli security forces raided the organisation's offices in Ramallah and Hebron on 1 December, vandalising property and detaining staff. According to OHCHR, people present in the buildings were blindfolded, handcuffed and made to kneel or lie on the floor for several hours. Eight men were detained.

The union (UAWC) is licensed under Palestinian law and has supported farmers and rural communities for decades - particularly those facing settler violence or the threat of forced displacement.

The group is one of six Palestinian NGOs labelled "terrorist" by Israeli authorities in 2021 under legislation the UN says is overly broad and allows for sweeping, unjustified restrictions on civil society. The rights office stressed that Israel has not presented evidence to back up the allegations.

Most violent olive harvest on record

The raid followed several weeks of harassment and public incitement by Israeli settlers and settler leaders who targeted UAWC during the peak of the olive harvest. This year's harvest has been the most violent on record: by mid-November, OHCHR had documented 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities.

Violence has increasingly extended beyond farmers themselves. Since 1 October, the UN office has recorded 81 violations by settlers and Israeli security forces against human rights defenders, volunteers providing protective presence, and NGOs supporting communities targeted by settler violence or threatened by settlement expansion. These include 48 arrests or detentions, and 22 physical assaults.

OHCHR said unnecessary or disproportionate force, arbitrary detention, and ill-treatment remain common features of Israeli security operations in the West Bank.

'Unlawful annexation'

The cumulative effect, it warned, is a rapid shrinking of both physical and civic space for Palestinians, as settlement expansion and what the UN describes as Israel's "unlawful annexation" of the territory continue.

Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the international legal position is unequivocal: "Israel must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and remove all settlers in accordance with the conclusions of the International Court of Justice."

"As an occupying power, Israel has clear duties under international law," he added, including respecting and protecting Palestinians' rights to earn a living and to exercise freedom of expression and association.