The Palestinian Authority summoned the Dutch representative Kees van Baar on Monday to object to the Netherlands’ decision to halt funding to one of the Palestinian civil society organizations that Israel banned as ‘terrorist groups’, The New Arab reported.
In a statement, the PA decried the “unjust and biased” decision to cut off funding to the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), one of the six groups that Israel controversially outlawed in October.
The Dutch Government's defunding of @UAWC – who provide vital support to vulnerable Palestinian farmers – is unacceptable. We #StandWithThe6 organsations criminalised by Israel as they face continued threats to their important work.
Write to your MP
https://t.co/f5QdRsqrQq
— PSC (@PSCupdates) January 11, 2022
The Palestinian Authority said UAWC provides vital aid to Palestinian farmers struggling to remain on their land in the face of illegal Israeli settlement expansion.
On January 5, the Dutch government said it will no longer fund the Ramallah-based UAWC. The UAWC, for which the Dutch government has been the main donor since 2013, is a grassroots non-governmental organization focused “on Palestinian rights of freedom, development, and decent life on their land that is recognized as Occupied Territories”, according to the organization website.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summons the Dutch representative in Ramallah to protest against the Dutch government's decision to stop funding the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. https://t.co/uri2Kd2JaY
— Union of Agricultural Work Committees (@UAWC1986) January 11, 2022
Though the review found no evidence of “organizational unity … at the individual level between UAWC staff and board members and the PFLP”, the Dutch government decided to end all funding to the organization.
(The Palestine Chronicle, The New Arab, Social Media)
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