The Forbidden Road Regime in the West Bank - An Apartheid Practice

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, B'Tselem, HaMoked - Center for the Defence of the Individual and Physicians for Human Rights Israel published the following press release today:

Saturday night, an IDF force raided the offices of the Palestinian Human Rights organization Al-Haq in Ramallah. IDF soldiers arrested one of the organization's employees who was in the office at the time and damaged property. We have also received news of IDF forces raiding the offices of other human rights organizations in Ramallah, including LAW, A-Dameer and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In these offices too, computers were smashed and furniture and office supplies were thrown onto the street.

We, Israeli human rights organizations, denounce the attack on human rights defenders and emphasize that their work, which is a crucial source of information about the severe human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, must be respected. Such work is all the more important under the current circumstances.

We call upon the IDF to refrain from harming civilians and to allow human rights, humanitarian and medical aid organizations to carry out their work.