USA / United Kingdom : Solidarity following the designation of Palestinian organisations

Human rights organisations, including the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT), stand in solidarity with Palestinian organisations and human rights defenders worldwide who are working to uphold international law in the face of Israel’s genocide and colonial apartheid against the Palestinian people. They condemn the sanctions imposed on Palestinian organisations by the United States and on Palestine Action by the United Kingdom.

22 September 2025 - We stand in solidarity with Palestinian organisations and human rights defenders worldwide working to uphold international law in the face of Israel’s genocide and colonial apartheid against the Palestinian people. We condemn unlawful threats, restrictions, reprisals and sanctions against individuals, organisations and mechanisms engaged in investigating and promoting accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Following decades of increased attack and defamation campaigns against organisations working in the field of human rights in relation to Palestine, Israel’s unlawful designation of Palestinian civil society organisations as “terrorist” is now being used against Palestinian and other organisations advocating for the rights of Palestinians; this is the case of Addameer in the USA and Palestine Action in the UK.

These were followed by the US designation of Al-Haq, Al Mezan and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) for “directly engag[ing] in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent”. This is a clear case of reprisals against Palestinian civil society for their work on human rights and accountability, following on from US sanctions against Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the oPt in July 2025 for dispensing her UN mandate. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stressed that the US sanctions “only deepen impunity, silence victims’ voices and encourage a climate of continued commission of violations and international crimes”. The UN Human Rights Council has previously recognised that impunity for past atrocity crimes is a significant factor contributing to their continuation and recurrence.

In June 2025, UN experts also condemned the decision of the US government to sanction judges of the ICC stating that “[t]he order is an attack on global rule of law and strikes at the very heart of the international criminal justice system. The financial restrictions it will impose undermine the ICC and its investigations into war crimes and crimes against humanity across the world, including those committed against women and children.” Decrying double standards in international law, they stressed that “[j]ustice must apply equally to all, without exception. Upholding international law is not a selective process—it is a shared responsibility [...]”. The US also denied or revoked visas to dozens of Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) officials, thereby preventing their participation in the UNGA session.

This is not a new trend, but it is worsening. Civil society working on monitoring and documenting these violations have reported the unprecedented scale and intensity of the crackdown on fundamental freedoms in relation to Palestine in Western Europe and North America.

Israel has implemented various policies and legislation to maintain its apartheid, including by attempting to silence dissent globally, including at the Human Rights Council and other UN fora. For years, Palestinian defenders have been subjected to campaigns of intimidation, defamation, harassment and reprisals for engaging with the UN and international accountability mechanisms as documented in the yearly report of the Secretary General on reprisals. Israel and the organisations supportive of its policies have played a destructive role1 and contributed to shaping an anti-Palestinian narrative while instrumentalising allegations and definitions of terrorism and anti-semitism to silence dissent and avoid accountability. It has also coordinated campaigns in support of the promotion of policies and legislation aimed at cracking down on free speech and association in relation to Palestine, including in Western countries.

Our organisations decry the systematic trend of repression of Palestinian solidarity, a coordinated effort by State and private actors to silence Palestinian voices. Our organisations also denounce political and conditional funding to civil society. This type of aid conditionality is a disciplining tool that forces actors to choose between principle and solidarity on the one hand, or survival on the other hand.

Jewish Voice for Peace, civil society organisations and UN experts have raised alarm at the weaponisation of antisemitism and counter terrorism policies to suppress fundamental rights in relation to Palestine. JVP stressed how the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA definition of antisemitism, into law and policy is being used by the US federal government, local governments, and para-state institutions to suppress human rights advocacy for Palestine as it conflates accountability for the state of Israel and anti-Semitism. Similar policies were monitored in Europe and in other Western countries.

Already in a joint statement from 2024, Special Procedures raised alarm at the crackdown on free speech and advocacy in relation to Palestine, especially in Western States. The experts concluded that undue restrictions imposed by States, “on peaceful protests and civil society working to protect human rights and humanitarian law in the context of the Gaza war are contrary to States’ obligation under international law to prevent atrocity crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and apartheid”. Instead of implementing the recommendations of Special Procedures, many of these States have escalated the crackdown on freedom of expression and association in relation to Palestine in an alarming manner.

States that continue to provide military, economic and political support to Israel, while suppressing fundamental freedoms, as well as attacking independent courts and experts, and defunding humanitarian aid (UNRWA), may be complicit in the commission of international crimes.

Time to act against genocide, apartheid and the suppression of Palestine speech is long overdue. Silence is not an option.

1 The UN Commission of Inquiry on Israel/Palestine stressed that “NGOs supportive of Israeli government policies have been increasingly established with the dedicated purpose of preventing, interfering with, and silencing civil-society activities and events focused on Palestinian rights, both locally and globally. These organisations - some with Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) accreditation - have dedicated significant resources to attacking specific human rights defenders and civil society organizations through their publications, social media, and other propaganda. These organizations effectively work in tandem with the Israeli Government’s strategy against civil society. For example, organisations have supported Government officials in fundraising to cover legal fees relating to litigation, provided staff members in right-wing election campaigns, collaborated on the drafting of Government bills and the establishment of parliamentary lobbies, and engaged in well organised smear campaigns against human rights organizations and individuals alongside government actions targeting the same organizations, among other actions.”