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Photos: Addameer office in Ramallah pictured after the raid.


RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces raided three civil society organizations in Ramallah early Tuesday, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Soldiers raided the offices of the Agricultural Work Committees, prisoners group Addameer, and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, located in Qaddura refugee camp.

Four laptops, one hard disk and a video camera were taken from Addameer's office, a statement from the group said. It is the first time the prisoners group has been raided since 2002, during the height of the second Palestinian intifada.

Israeli forces confiscated files and computer hardware from the women's committee before ransacking the office, witnesses said.

During the raid, clashes broke out with local youths and Israeli soldiers, who responded by firing tear gas.

Military forces also raided the offices of the Palestinian NGO Network, Ma'an's reporter said.

"This comes in the context of the UN's decision," Allam Jarrar of the Palestinian NGO Network told reporters on Tuesday morning.

"This a message by the Israelis to the Palestinians, saying that when they take decisions or form patriotic organizations to seek their freedom, the occupation will use aggression to try and stop us," he said.

Palestinian National Initiative chief Mustafa Barghouti said the Israeli raids were "piracy," adding that targeting civil society organizations that serve the Palestinian public is unacceptable.

An Israeli army spokesman said that "overnight IDF soldiers searched several offices in Ramallah which are affiliated with the Popular Front terrorist organization."

In February, Israeli forces raided two Palestinian television networks in Ramallah and briefly detained four employees, journalists said.

Reuters contributed to this report

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Army Invades Ramallah, Breaks Into NGO’s

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, the central West Bank city of Ramallah, broke into and searched several nongovernmental institutions, including the office of the Palestinian Women’s Union, and confiscated several computers; damage was reported.

The Maan News Agency reported that the army broke into the Women’s Union in Qaddoura refugee camp, the office of the Ad-Dameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, and the headquarters of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), and violently searched them.

The soldiers also confiscated several computers, laptops and documents that belong to the attacked NGO’s.
The agency added that clashes were reported in the refugee camp as dozens of local youths hurled stones at the invading soldiers who fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets.

Palestinian Legislator, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, slammed the Israeli violation, and described the attack as act on piracy.

Dr. Barghouthi added that the Israeli occupation is escalating its assaults against the Palestinian people, and their civil society institutions.

He further stated that attacking organizations that serve the Palestinian community is a violation that should be denounced by the international community and human rights groups, and added that Israel must be held accountable for its violations and crimes, and must face international sanctions.


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By Haggai Matar for +972

WATCH: Three Palestinian NGO offices raided by IDF overnight

Raid comes two weeks after a researcher in one of the NGOs was indicted for organizing and participating in nonviolent demonstrations.

The offices of Addammeer – the Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the Palestinian NGO Network were all raided by IDF last night. The offices, located in the heart of Ramallah, where Israeli forces are officially not allowed to enter, were searched, and at least in the case of Addameer equipment was confiscated, including four computer hard drives and filming equipment. Security tapes and a video made by neighbors show four IDF jeeps pulling in under their building and soldiers entering the building at around 3 a.m, and taking boxes full of equipment to the jeeps.

Just two weeks ago, a researcher for Addameer, Ayman Nasser, was indicted for alleged membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, after having been detained and tortured for more than a month. The case against Nasser is based in part on his participation in a nonviolent rally in Ramallah on the Palestinian Prisoner’s Day (17.4), a national event organized by all factions of Palestinian politics which the military prosecution claims to be a PFLP event.

The IDF Spokesperson Unit commented on the raids today, stating that “overnight searches were made in offices serving the terrorist organization PFLP in Ramallah.” The IDF did not comment on the question on its invasion into Area A.

“We have heard such claims made by Israel before and we see it as a way of delegitimizing civil society organizations,” says Gavan Kelly, advocacy coordinator for Addameer. “Of course we reject these claims time after time, and it’s enough to see that the NGO Network – representing more than one hundred Palestinian NGOs – was also raided. It’s simply absurd.”

This is not the first time Palestinian NGO offices in Ramallah have been raided, with a similar event taking place last May. In the case of Addameer, their offices were last been raided in 2002, yet they have since suffered from other sanctions by authorities such as a travel ban placed by Israel on their chairperson, 71-year-old Abdullatif Ghaith. “We see the raid as a continuation of Ayman’s arrest and the travel ban on our chairperson, but insist we will work doubly hard to support the prisoners,” says Kelly. A series of Palestinian and Israeli NGOs have also denounced the military’s attack on civil society.