Israeli security forces raided the organization’s offices in Ramallah and Hebron on December 1, vandalizing property and arresting staff.
According to OHCHRpeople in the buildings were blindfolded, handcuffed and forced to kneel or lie on the ground for several hours. Eight men were arrested.
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 labeled “terrorist” by Israeli authorities in 2021 under legislation that the UN considers overly broad and allows for sweeping and unjustified restrictions on civil society. The human rights office stressed that Israel had not presented any evidence to support the allegations.
The most violent olive harvest ever recorded
The raid followed several weeks of harassment and public incitement by Israeli settlers and their leaders who targeted the UAWC at the height of the olive harvest. This year’s harvest was the most violent on record: as of mid-November, OHCHR had recorded 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities.
The violence increasingly extends beyond the farmers themselves. Since October 1, the UN office has recorded 81 violations committed by settlers and Israeli security forces against human rights defenders, volunteers providing a protective presence and NGOs supporting communities targeted by settler violence or threatened by settlement expansion. These include 48 arrests or detentions and 22 physical attacks.
OHCHR said the use of unnecessary or disproportionate force, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment remain common features of Israeli security operations in the West Bank.
“Illegal annexation”
The cumulative effect, he warns, is a rapid shrinking of physical and civic space for Palestinians, as settlement expansion and what the UN describes as Israel’s “illegal annexation” of territory continues.
Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the international legal position is unequivocal: “Israel must end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory and expel all settlers in accordance with the findings of the International Court of Justice.”
“As an occupying power, Israel has clear duties under international law,” he added, including respecting and protecting the rights of Palestinians to earn a living and exercise their freedom of expression and association.
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
