On October 22, 2021, the Israeli Ministry of Defense designated six Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations.  According to the Ministry of Defense, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P), Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Al-Haq, Addameer, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC), and Bisan were included on Israel’s list of terrorist organizations because they are operated by and for the benefit of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.1 (A seventh PFLP-linked organization – Health Workers Committee (HWC) – was designated in January 2020.)

The Ministry of Defense, building off a ISA (Shabak) May 2021 press release, explained that these NGOs diverted humanitarian funds from European donors to the PFLP and recruited members into the terror group.  Relatedly, a security official told Israel’s N12 news site on October 23, 2021 that these NGOs provided a funding “lifeline” for the PFLP, employed PFLP terrorists, and that PFLP terror operatives used NGO offices for meetings.

On August 17, 2022, Israeli Minister of Defense Benny Gantz announced that the appeals of Addameer, Bisan, and UPWC were rejected, and he had finalized the designations. Head of the IDF’s Central Command Gen. Yehuda Fuchs also rejected appeals made by Al-Haq and DCI-P. That night, IDF forces raided at least seven PFLP-linked institutions, including the offices of Addameer, Al-Haq, Bisan, and UPWC.  According to Al-Haq, IDF forces “shut down the main entrance with an iron plate leaving behind a military order declaring the organization unlawful.”

Since 2007, NGO Monitor has published numerous reports, based on open sources, documenting the close connections between these and other Palestinian NGOs and the PFLP. It is likely that Israeli authorities possess further materials on the NGO-PFLP ties, but it is unknown whether they will make this public.

See below for details – all previously published by NGO Monitor – regarding each of the designated organizations, including organizational ties between the NGOs and the PFLP, as well as individual links between NGO board members, officials, and employees and the terror group. A crucial aspect of these developments is the reaction from European funders. As detailed below, reaction in Europe have been varied, with some officials seeking to strengthen anti-terror funding mechanisms, while others have sought to discredit the designations. There is also data related to foreign governmental funding to these organizations.

Addameer’s Ties to the PFLP

According to Fatah, Addameer is an affiliate of the PFLP.

Abdul-Latif Ghaith

According to a November 6, 2019 Addameer article, Ghaith is the “former Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association Chairperson.” An October 2011 Addameer article also refers to Ghaith as “one of the founders of Addameer” and notes that he has “been serving on the Board for the past twenty years.”

  • Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri banned him from traveling in February 2019 and also in February 2017. According to the Interior Ministry, Deri “was convinced that Abdul-Latif, an activist in the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] organization and a person who has connections to the organization’s activists abroad, will utilize his travel abroad for the organizational purposes of the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine].”

Khalida Jarrar

Khalida Jarrar served as vice-chairperson of Addameer until 2017. She is also seen being interviewed at Addameer’s offices in a 2019 video. Khalida Jarrar appeared on the PFLP list for the scheduled May 2021 Palestinian Legislative Elections, which were postponed indefinitely.

  • Jarrar was arrested on October 31, 2019 on suspicions of “involvement in terror activity.” On December 18, 2019, it was revealed that Jarrar has “emerged as the head of the PFLP in the West Bank and responsible for all the organization’s activities” (emphasis added). In September 2021, Jarrar was released from prison. According to her indictment:
    • Jarrar was indicted on one count of holding a position in an illegal organization, dating back to June 2016.
    • The indictment discusses how she and two other individuals arrested for their alleged involvement in the PFLP-terror cell that killed a 17-year old Israeli girl Rina Schnerb divided their responsibilities. The two others are Walid Hanatsheh (who works as the financial and administrative director at the PFLP-tied Health Work Commitees), and Abdul Razeq Farraj (administrative manager at the PFLP-tied Union of Agricultural Work Committees). The indictment explains that Jarrar was responsible for political and national activities, for terror, and Farraj for organizational development and recruitment.
    • Jarrar was kept abreast of the work of her colleagues. The trio had multiple meetings in which they updated each other on their activities, dating back to 2014.
  • According to Addameer, Jarrar was arrested in July 2017 and placed in administrative detention. According to Addameer, her detention was extended multiple times until she was released on February 28, 2019.
  • Jarrar was administratively detained on April 1, 2015 by Israeli security forces and on April 15, 2015 she was indicted for various offenses including active membership in a terrorist organization(the PFLP) and inciting violence through a call to kidnap Israeli soldiers to be used as “bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners.”
  • Jarrar accepted a plea bargain and was reportedly convicted on “one count of belonging to an illegal organization and another of incitement” receiving a 15- month prison sentence with an additional 10-month suspended sentence. According to an article in Haaretz, “The court noted that Jarrar was not being tried for being a member of the Palestinian parliament but rather for her activity in the PFLP.”
  • In addition, Khalida Jarrar attended the 2019 and 2016 general assembly of the PFLP-tied NGO Health Work Committees (HWC).
  • In May 2019, Khalida Jarrar attended a memorial event organized by the PFLP. It centered on PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who, according to information posted by the PFLP, “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.

Source: Khan 11, “The Popular Front found an original way to receive funding from the UN,” November 14, 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxyFnLQS0a0

Salah Hamouri

Until October 2019, Addameer’s Arabic website listed Salah Hamouri as a field researcher. A September 11, 2019 interview with the French “Pourquoipas,” the interviewer refers to Hamouri as a “lawyer at Addameer,” to which Hamouri responds “yes, I am a lawyer” and adds that he is one of six lawyers at the organization.

Left to Right: Ahmed Saadat, General Secretary of the PFLP; Samir Kuntar, “top Hezbollah operative” and responsible for the 1979 terrorist murder of an Israeli family including a four year old girl; Marwan Barghouti, head of Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigades terror group, convicted to five life sentences for murder; and Salah Hamouri http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9q8gi

Salah Hamouri with PFLP Flag. Source: HadfNews, September 30, 2018: https://tinyurl.com/v9qf4yx

Sahar Francis

According to Addameer’s website, as of March 2, 2021 Sahar Francis held the position of general director. Additionally, an October 27, 2021 Arabic-language media report identifies her in this role. According to Addameer, Sahar Francis has held the position of general director since 2006.1 Francis joined Addameer as a lawyer in 1998.

  • According to a February 2019+972 Magazine interview, “One of the achievements Francis is proudest of is supporting Khader Adnan during his 2012 hunger strike.” Adnan is senior leader of PIJ.
  • According to the PFLP and Arab media, in September 2014, Francis participated in a PFLP-organized memorial event for Hashem Abu Maria, Sultan Al-Zaakik and Abe Al-Hameed Breigheth. During the event, Francis “talked about Hashem the human, Hashem the fighter, Hashem who did not know the meaning of defeat, Hashem who smiled at hardships. Hashem was a school for love, truth and commitment.”
    • In July 2014, Abu Maria was killed during a violent confrontation in Beit Ummar. Following his death, he was hailed by the PFLP, which issued an official mourning announcement, as a “leader.”
  • On February 22, 2016, during Apartheid Week events in London, Francis argued that while it was “not certain or proved…she shared with the audience the increasing suspicions that Israel was harvesting organs from Palestinian corpses before returning them” (emphasis added).

Ayman Nasser

In October 2019, Addameer’s website listed Ayman Nasser as the coordinator of Addameer’s legal unit. Nasser is referred to as a “legal unit coordinator” in a September 2019 Amnesty International article.

  • According to Amnesty International, “on 11 September 2019, the Israeli Ofer Military Court approved the renewal of Ayman Nasser’s administrative detention for a further four months. His detention is now expected to end on 4 January 2020. Ayman Nasser has been detained since 17 September 2018, without charge or trial in Ofer prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. Ayman Nasser is the legal unit coordinator of Palestinian NGO Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Right Association.”
  • On July 29, 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Nasser’s administrative detention. It found that he had engaged in “organizational activity in the context of the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine], “which was “significant and dangerous, along with additional Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] members.” [On file with NGO Monitor]
  • According to Addameer, Nasser was arrested on September 9, 2018. On September 16, 2018, Nasser received a 6-month administrative detention order.
  • According to Addameer, Nasser was arrested on September 18, 2014 and placed in administrative detention. His administrative detention was renewed three times and he was released on September 13, 2015.
  • On June 3, 2013, the Israeli military court convicted Nasser, who admitted to being a member of an unlawful organization, the PFLP, and for providing services to the organization. He was released in October 2013.
  • On December 18, 2012, an indictment was filed against him in Israeli military court attributing a number of offenses relating to membership in the PFLP and activities on behalf of the organization.
  • According to Amnesty International, he was arrested on October 15, 2012for links to the PFLP.
  • According to Addameer, he was imprisoned by Israel from 1992 to 1997.

Samer Arbid

Addameer’s website listed Arbid as an accountant for several years.

  • According to Israeli security officials, on August 23, 2019, Samer Arbid commanded a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother. According to the indictment, Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device. A December 18, 2019 article in the Jerusalem Post notes that according to the Israel Security Agency (ISA), “Arbid prepared the explosive device and detonated itwhen he saw the Shnerb family approaching the spring.” According to Amnesty International, Arbid’s lawyer is “part of the Palestinian human rights group ‘Addameer.’”
    • According to Arbid’s indictment, Arbid was indicted on 21 counts in Israeli military court. His alleged crimes include:
      • Premeditated causing of death
      • Planting an explosive
      • Multiple counts of premeditated attempt to cause death. These include involvement in shooting attacks against civilian buses and private vehicles, as well as the August 23, 2019 bomb attack in which Rena Schnerb was murdered.
      • Illegal possession of weapons.
      • Weapons trafficking.
      • Membership in an illegal organization.

For more information on Arbid, see UAWC section above.

Yacoub Odeh

In October 2019, Addameer’s website listed Yacoub Odeh (Yaquod Oudeh) as a board member.

  • According to Passia (Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs), Odeh joined the PFLP in 1967.
  • An August 27, 2013 PA TV interview with the terrorist Aisha Odeh links Yacoub Odeh to a 1969 terrorist attack in Jerusalem. According to Aisha Odeh, “…Rasmieh Odeh and Yaqub Odeh are from Lifta. I am from Dir Jarir. In addition there were Samia Al-Tawil and Mahmoud Al-Ubeid. The five of us were tried together, even though I had no connection to any of them aside from Rasmieh. Yaqub Odeh was sentenced to 3 life sentences, Rasmieh Odeh was sentenced to 3 life sentences, and I was sentenced to 2 life sentences… One life sentence for carrying out an operation, one life sentence for not reporting the operation, and ten years for my membership in the [PFLP] organization… Israelis died [in the bombing]. We placed two bombs. One bomb exploded and one bomb was discovered a few moments before it exploded. Two were killed and 10 (sic., 20) were wounded…”
  • According to the PFLP, Odeh spoke at a February 8, 2014 PFLP ceremony where “Hundreds of PFLP members and activists participated in the event honouring veteran activists, who announced they are launching an association of PFLP veterans and long-term cadres.” According to the PFLP “Comrade Yacoub Odeh, who spent 17 years in Israeli prisons, spoke on behalf of the veteran cadres, carrying a unified message of commitment to the Popular Front’s united position and dedication to the freedom of the Palestinian people and the liberation of the land of Palestine. He confirmed that the veteran comrades’ deep commitment to the front was built on the sacrifices of the martyrs and great leaders who forged the path, and that now it is necessary to continue to achieve the goal for which the Front was launched.”
  • In 2017, Odeh participated in a conference, “The 1987 Intifada: History and Memory” in commemoration of “the thirtieth Anniversary of the First Palestinian Uprising against the Israeli Occupation.” The conference, held in Gaza on November 24-26 and in Beirut on November 28-30, featured speakers that are former or current members of the Hamas and PFLP terrorist organizations. The event was originally co-sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Stiftung but after the terrorist links of many of the speakers were publicized, the Foundation withdrew its sponsorship.

Mahmoud Jiddah

In October 2019, Addameer’s website listed Mahmoud Jiddah as a board member. Jiddah also serves as a board member at Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) in 2012 – 2016. A May 13, 2017 picture taken at a meeting of the DCI-P General Assembly shows Jiddah standing next to DCI-P’s General Assembly President Nassar Ibrahim, indicating his ongoing affiliation with DCI-P.

  • Jiddah was imprisoned by Israel for17 years for carrying out grenade attacks against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem in 1968. He was released in 1985 in a prisoner swap. A February 2017 Al Jazeera article furthers that Jiddah was arrested in 1968 for joining the front and carrying out terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tel Aviv.
  • According to news reports, following a 2016 meeting with Jiddah, Didier Ortiz, then a Green Party candidate for the Fort Lauderdale City Council, posted an Instagram photo of Jiddah citing the latter’s PFLP affiliation.
  • An April 2017 article in Arabic language media notes that Jiddah is “of the PFLP cadres” and that he spent his last twenty years serving different periods of time in jail.
  • A March 2006 article in Arabic language media notes that Jiddah was arrested and refers to him as a PFLP official.

Bashir Al-Khairi

In October 2019, Addameer’s website listed Bashir Al-Khairi as a board member. He was also the president of the PFLP-tied Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) board until 2011. Al-Khairi appeared on the PFLP list for the scheduled May 2021 Palestinian Legislative Elections, which were postponed indefinitely.

  • In August 2014, according to the PFLP, al-Khairi stressed that the “approach of resistance and liberation in the life of Comrade Abu Ali Mustafa is still firmly in the mind of every free Palestinian” at a PFLP event commemorating the “13th Anniversary of Martyrdom of its Secretary General Abu Ali Mustafa.” At the event, Al-Khairi stated that “the time has come to recognize those who contributed to the steadfastness of Gaza in its war against the Zionist enemy, namely Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, headed by Hezbollah.”
  • In statements in 2012 and 2014, thePFLP referred to Al-Khairi as an “historic leader,” a “comrade,” and a “leader.”
  • According to a 2013 AusAID document, Bashir al Khairi was “convicted of terrorist offences in 1969 and gaoled for 15 years.”
  • According to Arabic media, Al-Khairi was arrested by the IDF along with other PFLP members in October 2010. The article refers to Al-Khairi as being a member of the PFLP’s National Council.
  • Khairi was arrested in 2010 and 2011. According to an article in Arabic language media, in 2010, Al-Khairi was arrested by the IDF along with other PFLP members. The article refers to him as being a member of the PFLP’s National Council.
  • According to a 2002 CNN article, Khairi was the head of the PFLP political bureau.

From Left to Right: Youssef Katalo, the mural’s artist; Abdul Rahim Mallouh, former PFLP Deputy secretary-general; Bashir Al-Khairi; Archbishop Atallah Hanna; Abla Sa’adat, the wife of the PFLP General Secretary Ahmed Saadat; Khalida Jarrar, senior PFLP official and former Addameer Vice President; Mohammed Kana’aneh, “leader of the Abna’a el-Balad Movement in occupied Palestine 1948.” Source: PFLP, “PFLP in Beit Sahour Unveils Mural Commemorating al-Hakim,” May 4, 2014: https://web.archive.org/web/20181213091601/http://pflp.ps/english/wpeng/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/beit-sahour-hakim.jpg

Hasan Safadi

In October 2019, Addameer’s website listed Hasan Safadi as Arabic Media and Communications Officer.

  • According to Addameer, Safadi was detained by Israel on May 1, 2016 after returning from Tunisia and was placed in administrative detention on June 10, 2016. Addameer adds that the “public prosecution claimed that Safadi is affiliated with an illegal organization and has visited an enemy state (Lebanon) more than one time. It also claimed that he has illegal activities without specifying the details of these activities, in addition to claiming that he is affiliated with other detainees without identifying the names of these detainees.”
  • Amnesty International confirms that Safadi was “detained since 10 June 2016.”
  • According to Front Line Defenders, on October 26, 2016, Safadi was sentenced to three months and one day imprisonment for visiting Lebanon.

Yousef Habash

According to Addameer’s website, as of November 20, 2020, Habash was a member of Addameer’s board of directors and has served on the board of directors since 2011.2

He is similarly referred to as an Addameer “member” in a May 2018 article published by the French NGO UJFP.

  • Israel prevented Habash from leaving the West Bank in 2011-2012. According to Addameer, Israel prevented Habash from leaving the West Bank twice in 2011.
  • A 2011 BDS National Committee statement includes him as a member of the group.
  • According to the PFLP, Habash participated in the “World Social Forum” in Tunisia in March 2015 and is a member of the “Forum’s international coordinating committee and a representative of the Palestinian national committee for the Forum.
  • In 2001, an article posted on the Palestinian NGO Miftah’s website, written by the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), includes Habash in a list of “PFLP members (or ex-associates of the PFLP)” [sic] arrested by the PA Palestinian National Authority following the 2001 assassination of the Israeli Minister Rehavam Ze’evi by the PFLP.
  • Habash was also reportedly HWC’s “European representative,” until at least 2015.
  • On December 11, 2020, Habash shared on Facebook a poster of PFLP Founder George Habash and a video honoring the PFLP’s establishment. Habash wrote, “On every anniversary of the establishment the promise of the idea is renewed….the establishment is not only an occasion but a confirmation of a path that started 52 years ago and continues to the heroes of Ein Bubin [referring to PFLP-planned Dolev bombing in which 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was murdered]…”
  • On August 1, 2020, Habash shared on Facebook Palestinian magazine Al-Hadaf’s cover page featuring George Habash and wrote, “Peace be upon your birthday. Peace be upon you and your spirit which hovers over Palestine from the river to the sea…it reaffirms, despite the betrayal and the failure, that the only way to Palestine is with the gun. We miss you, our doctor, father and teacher.”
  • On May 6, 2019, Habash shared on Facebook a picture of former PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, and wrote, “Today passed away the man who shaped in his work one of the pages of the national civilian and societal struggle. Abu Marwan [Muhanna’s alias] now joins his comrades and brothers…You will remain, and your work and donation will remain.”

Habash shared a picture of former PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna and wrote a eulogy for him.

  • On January 26, 2018, Habash shared on Facebook a poster of George Habash and pictures showing his participation in the funeral of the latter. The poster quotes George Habash, “I swear by the orange of Jaffa and the memories of the refugees, we will hold accountable those who sold our land and those who bought us.” Habash wrote, “On the anniversary of the teacher’s passing…May your spirit have glory, we remain faithful to the promise, you represented Palestine with your personality…Your teachings and you remain within us as long as we live.”
  • On January 25, 2013, Habash shared on Facebook a video hailing PFLP leadership and wrote, “You remain within us. The heart of Palestine.”

Habash shared on Facebook a video hailing PFLP leadership

Mazen Abu Aoun

According to a May 2015 Addameer Facebook post, Mazen Abu Aoun has been working as an attorney at Addameer since 2010.3 As of May 2021, Arabic-language media listed Abu Aoun as a lawyer at Addameer.

  • According to Addameer, the PA arrested Abu Aoun on January 10, 2011 and on May 18, 2015.
  • In April 2011, Abu Aoun represented the PFLP terrorist Munzter Ahmad Muhammad Hamdi, who was charged with shooting and throwing explosives (see “The Military Court of Samaria, File No. 1411/10, April 7, 2011”).
  • According to the Palestinian news agency, Wafa, on January 28, 2008, Abu Aoun was placed in administrative detention by Israel.
  • On June 28, 2016, Abu Aoun posted on Facebook, “To make a long story short, normalization is betrayal whether it is Arab or foreign. What is worse than normalization are those who defend normalization and find justification for it…a traitor will find a thousand justifications for his betrayal, whatever they will be.”
  • On February 21, 2015, Abu Aoun posted on Facebook, “When an Iranian official appears and says we can destroy Tel-Aviv in ten minutes…your slogan ‘death to Israel’ is just that, slogans and empty words. Israel’s real enemy is the resistance in Gaza [Hamas] and it is the only one qualified to speak in the name of the resistance…”
  • On November 26, 2012, Abu Aoun shared on Facebook a post that consisted of a series of comments on various terrorist leaders, accompanied by their pictures: “The martyr Abd Al-Aziz Al-Rantisi [former leader of Hamas] carried the rifle and said ‘this is my dialogue with the Jews.’ The martyr Abu Ali Mustafa – ‘Whoever thinks that the time of the resistance has passed and, in its place, arrived the time of settlement is mistaken. As long as the occupation exists in its colonial and military form, resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people.’ The martyr Abu Jihad Al-Wazir [Fatah’s co-founder and commander of its armed wing] – ‘No voice is louder than the voice of intifada…Listen: there is no appeasement with the occupation as long as it exists.’”

A series of quotes by Palestinian terrorist leaders shared by Mazen Abu Aoun

Naser Abu Khdair

As of January 2020, Naser Abu Khdair is listed as an Addameer board member. Addameer’s 2011 Annual Report also lists Khdair as a board member. Naser Abu Khdair appeared on the PFLP list for the scheduled May 2021 Palestinian Legislative Elections, which were postponed indefinitely.

  • According to a January 2018 article published by Samidoun, “Abu Khdeir is a prominent leader in Jerusalem and has spent 15 years in Israeli prison. Most recently, he served five and a half years in Israeli prison for membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
  • Samidoun notes that Abu Khdair was “imprisoned from:
    • 17 October 1977 – 18 April 1978
    • 1 April 1981 – 10 March 1986
    • 16 October 1994 – 24 May 1995
    • 21 February 2001 – 17 June 2002
    • 14 December 2003 – 9 June 2004
    • 7 June 2005 – 16 March 2006
    • 15 April 2011 – 13 October 2016”
  • An October 2016 video exhibits a poster featuring Abu Khdair and the PFLP logo.
  • In an August 2018 article published by the PFLP, Abu Khudair is referred to as “an official at the PFLP.”
  • According to Arabic language media, Abu Khudair was badly injured in the early 80s while assembling an explosive device, which he planned to detonate near a “bus stop for soldiers in Jerusalem.”
  • As reported on the Arab48 website, the Shin Bet arrested Abu Khadair in 2011 for heading a terrorist group that planned to commit terrorist attacks and kidnap a soldier. Arab48 adds that he was the connecting link with PFLP leadership in Damascus and met with PFLP officials in Jordan in order to receive training and funds.

Mahmoud al Safadi

As of January 2020, Mahmoud al Safadi is listed as an Addameer board member. Addameer’s 2011 Annual Report also lists al Safadi as a board member.4

  • According to a 2004 Arabic language media article, al Safadi is a member of the PFLP and was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment. The article notes that he was convicted in an Israeli court of carrying out guerrilla operations. According to the Goethe institute, he served 18 years in prison.

Support for the PFLP:

  • On June 3, 2016, Al-Safadi shared on Facebook a picture of PFLP senior member Khalida Jarrar with a PFLP flag behind her, and congratulated her for her release from Israeli jail.
    • Jarrar, a senior member of the PFLP, was sentenced on March 1, 2021, by the Judea Military Court to two years in prison for holding office in the PFLP from 2016 until her arrest in 2019. Previously, Jarrar was arrested several times for her activity in the PFLP.
  • On January 1, 2014, Al-Safadi posted on Facebook, “The fact that the PFLP has reaffirmed the election of the comrade Ahmed Sa’adat…means that the Front is still walking on the path of this commander, who is an extension of the doctor [PFLP founder George Habash’s alias] and Abu Ali Mustafa’s path, the path of resistance and upholding the national principles. Congratulations to the Front and our people for this reaffirmation.”

Social media posts regarding terrorists and terrorist organizations:

  • On September 29, 2019, Al-Safadi shared on Facebook a painting he made of prisoner uniforms on a cross and wrote, “Samer Arbid, they crucified you and did not know that you are the messiah who will rise above his wounds and bring victory to his people. May you have glory…”
  • On March 2, 2014, Al-Safadi posted on Facebook, “The assassination did not target Mu’ataz alone but the spirit of the resistance within us.”

Anas Barghouthi

Anas Barghouthi was an Addameer lawyer. Addameer notes that Barghouthi was a “lawyer at Addameer between 2009-2013, and is one of the first lawyers to defend political prisoners in Palestinian Authority prisons.”

  • Barghouthi was arrested in September 2013 and was subsequently charged with “membership of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine” and “leadership of a committee to organize demonstrations.”
  • In February 2017, Barghouthi accepted a plea that includes “a 7,000-shekel ($1,892) fine, as well as a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison if Barghouthi is found to be involved with PFLP in the coming five years.

Concerning Imagery and Rhetoric

Numerous Addameer staff members have celebrated convicted terrorists, posted violent images, and made antisemitic comments on social media. (Read NGO Monitor’s report “Addameer Employees’ Violent Social Media Accounts”)

Mohannad Karajah

Mohannad Karajah worked as an attorney at Addameer from June 2014 to June 2019.

  • Karajah has expressed his support for the PFLP on multiple occasions.
  • On May 30, 2017, Karajah posted on Facebook a lengthy text glorifying the 1972 Lod Airport massacre. Karajah wrote, “Due to the great honor of this Japanese Palestinian international revolutionary, the PFLP held a warm welcome for Kozo Okamoto in the Lebanese Beqaa region and they lifted him on their shoulders.” On May 30, 2015, Karajah shared another picture of Okamoto with the same post.
    • Okamoto, along with two others, was hired and trained by the PFLP to commit the Lod Airport Massacre, in which his group killed 26 people and injured 80 others.
  • In December 2015, Karajah shared on Facebook a number of pictures from a PFLP march in Saffa, west of Ramallah, and wrote, “This picture from the PFLP’s 48th anniversary of its establishment in Saffa. We asked to publish it and it was not enabled until now.”

PFLP march in Saffa village in December 2015

  • On December 8, 2014, Karajah shared on Facebook an article of Fateh Media and wrote, “This article accuses the Jerusalem operation carried out by comrades Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal of not being ‘heroic’. How can a resistance movement as Fatah publish this defeatist article on its website…how can it publish an article which assassinates once again the martyrs and turns every word in it to a bullet aimed at the resistance…”
  • On October 18, 2014, Karajah shared on Facebook a picture of Hasan Karajah and a picture of PFLP supporters carrying PFLP flags. Karajah wrote, “My brother Hasan…my comrades, my friends, I wish I could be with you when the hero Hasan is welcomed, I would have liked to carry you Hasan on my shoulder…Hasan, tomorrow in the Tunisian capital I will call with you all to free you and the fighting comrades.”
    • Hasan is Mohannad’s brother, who was arrested several times during 2013-2020 for “security offenses” and for “endangering the region.” According to the IDF Spokesman as quoted in a July 2016 Sicha Mekomit article, “Hasan was arrested due to his activity in the PFLP, which poses a real and grave security risk according to intelligence information.” On October 19, 2014, Palestine Today reported that Hasan Karajah was arrested in January 2013 after facing several charges, among them communicating with Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization by the US, Canada and Israel.

On the left: PFLP rally; On the right: Hasan Karajah, arrested multiple times for his security offenses and his links to terrorist organizations as the PFLP and Hezbollah (Source)

  • On August 20, 2014, Karajah shared on Facebook an official PFLP video published by Quds News Network. Karajah wrote, “Long live Palestine. Long live the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades [PFLP’s armed wing]. Long live Iran, Syria and Hezbollah. My friends in Palestine and the world, this is the Front’s promise to you and your peoples.” In the video, PFLP states that “…our battle with the occupation will not cease until it is eliminated…until full liberation…death to the Zionist occupiers and victory to our people and brave resistance…”

An official PFLP video calling for the elimination of Israel and “death to the Zionist occupiers”

  • On July 25, 2014, Karajah shared on Facebook an official PFLP obituary notice of Hashem Abu Maria, and wrote, “This is the comrades’ promise to us, this is the Front leadership’s promise to us, that they will be the first in bullets and the first in Intifada. #The_Martyr_Hashem_Abu_Maria.”
    • In July 2014, Abu Maria was killed during a violent confrontation in Beit Ummar. Following his death, he was hailed by the PFLP, which issued an official mourning announcement, as a “leader.”

An official PFLP obituary notice of one of its members Hashem Abu Maria

  • On July 3, 2014, Karajah wrote on Facebook, “At this point in time we recall that on the anniversary of [PFLP Secretary General] Abu Ali [Mustafa]’s martyrdom, comrade [PFLP Secretary General] Ahmed Sa’adat said, ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a head for a head.’ After a few days the Front assassinated the Zionist minister Rehavam Ze’evi and thus our motto with the Zionists is an eye for an eye.”

Social media posts regarding terrorists and terrorist organizations:

  • On May 31, 2019, Karajah shared on Facebook a picture of Yusouf Sehwail, who was shot dead after stabbing two Israelis in Jerusalem. Karajah called Sehwail a martyr hero and congratulated his family for “this honor and this path, the path of martyrs.”
  • On March 6, 2019, Karajah shared on Facebook pictures of Basel Al-A’araj, who was allegedly part of a terrorist cell planning to carry out attacks on Israeli targets and was killed by Israeli forces after opening fire on them. Karajah wrote, “on the anniversary 3/6/2017, this morning, the martyr Basel Al-A’araj died as a martyr with a book and a rifle…this pharmacist youth died while refusing to surrender and charting a new path on which the martyrs following him will walk…”
  • On January 8, 2019, Karajah shared on Facebook pictures of and hailed Suleiman Khater, an Egyptian police cadet who gunned down seven Israeli tourists in the Ras Burqa massacre on October 5, 1985. Karajah wrote, “Sleep peacefully with Allah’s blessings Suleiman…25 years to your pure body’s passing and still you are within us with your bravery and daring, you are still with us in your spirit and strength which we all miss…”
  • On August 23, 2018, Karajah shared on Facebook a picture of Hani Al-Majdalawi, who fired at Israeli forces on August 20, 2018, while trying to infiltrate Israel from Gaza near Zikim. Karajah told Majdalawi’s life story, describing the latter as a “martyr” and a “hero” several times. Karajah wished that “God will have mercy upon you and receive you with the rest of the martyrs. May your spirit have peace Majdalawi.”
  • On June 23, 2017, Karajah wrote on Facebook, “The hideous crime that [the] Jenin municipality committed against the nation and the martyrs by removing the martyr Khaled Nazzal’s gravestone is a dangerous precedent. This issue does not hurt the Democratic Front [alone], but hurts any patriot and the martyr’s family and is even a disavowal of our martyrs’ sacrifices and their families’ cries. This municipal council must be removed from office now. #No_for_covering# No_for_covering_the_martyrs” (emphasis added).
    • Khaled Nazzal planned the 1974 Maalot massacre in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 22 school children and 4 adults.
  • On October 5, 2015, Karajah called the 2015 shooting attack in which Hamas members killed Eitam and Naama Henkina “heroic operation.”
  • On March 2, 2015, Karajah wrote on Facebook, “There is no doubt that the Egyptian court’s decision to designate Hamas as a terrorist organization is a wrong political decision that commits a hideous crime against the resistance movements, and first and foremost Hamas…” Hamas is a designated terrorist organization by the US, EU, Canada, and Israel.
  • On August 17, 2014, Karajah shared a video of the Guardians of Al-Aqsa Brigades and wrote, “Whoever doubts the resistance is a traitor. Long live the resistance and all its brigades, regardless of their political orientations and religious beliefs. #Guardians_of_Al-Aqsa_Brigades.” In the video the Guardians of Al-Aqsa Brigades threaten to retaliate with force against any Israeli attack against them.
  • On July 9, 2014, Karajah shared on Facebook an official poster of Hamas’ frogman unit, stating, “A martyr entrusts the next martyr.” The poster identifies the man encircled in red as Bashar Ziad Abed Ahmed, the commander of the Hamas infiltration operation of Zikim beach. Karajah wrote, “ʻWhat is important is not that one of us dies, but that others continue – [PFLP spokesperson and member of its Political Bureau]’ Ghassan Kanafani. The picture of the hero martyr Bashar Ahmed, the hero of the Zikim and commander of the commando frogman unit. #Gaza_resistance #Martyr_Bashar_Ahmed.”
  • On June 26, 2014, Karajah shared on Facebook an official DFLP video published by Quds News Network, and wrote, “Long live the national resistance brigades, the military wing of the DFLP.” In the video, DFLP call for an armed resistance, intifada and the end of the security coordination between the Israel and the PA.

Ziad Suhweil

According to an Addameer publication. Ziad Suhweil has held the position of administrative and financial unit coordinator at Addameer since at least 2011. According to Addameer’s website, as of November 19, 2020, Suhweil held the position of administrative and financial unit coordinator at Addameer.

  • On July 30, 2019, Suhweil shared on Facebook an official Addameer poster listing nine Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, among them Mustafa Hassanat, Huthaifa Halabiya, and Mohammed Abu Akker. Suhweil wrote, “Glory is made by heroes and freedom has its leaders. May the occupation and its prisons be gone. #May_Administrative_Detention_fall.”
    • On August 6, 2019, the PFLP referred to Hassanat, Halabiya and Abu Akker as “comrades.” The PFLP reported that PFLP leadership was able to withdraw the decision to extend the arrest of Hassanat and Abu Akker.
  • On February 22, 2017, Suhweil shared on Facebook a picture of Nael Barghouti, who served over 30 years in Israeli prison for stabbing bus driver Moti Yakuel to death in 1978. Suhweil wrote: “Abu Nour [Barghouti’s alias], I see the truth as a hammer you wield in your hands…I know that the nation is a plough you manufactured with the enduring strength of your lifetime, and that the difference between those who pledged, but submitted and betrayed and those who chiseled liberty with the enduring strength of titans…is clear and obvious. Commander Nael Barghouti…you have not been defeated and never will.”
  • On October 13, 2015, Suhweil shared on Facebook a picture of Ahmed Mansara after being shot. Mansara was sentenced to nine years in prison for taking part in two stabbing attacks in 2015. Suhweil quoted the poet Muthaffar Al-Nawab, “Despite your scream, your voice was sweet. All birds are slaughtered while singing.”
  • On July 12, 2014, Suhweil posted on Facebook, “The historic moments which our people live through as a result of the resistance in Gaza [Hamas] are moments full of power and honor, all the Palestinians regard the resistance and its heroic work on the path of victory and liberation of Palestine in its entirety as sacred…the security coordination is betrayal and is not sacred to us. The Palestinian intifadas are the choice of a people that strives for liberty in honor and bravery…Gaza’s rockets…the work of those participating in the intifada from the inner area, Jerusalem and the [west] bank is the work of freemen…#Palestine backs the resistance#” (emphases added).
  • On August 20, 2012, Suhweil shared on Facebook a post with a poster of Ahmed Daqamseh’s mother holding Daqamseh’s picture, which reads, “Oh mother, do not cry for your son is a Jordanian hero in word and deed. Oh mother, do not be sad, we are the branch and you are the root. Ahmed Daqamseh’s mother.” Suhweil wrote, “Ahmed Daqamseh, an Arab Jordanian hero. Thanks to the belly that carried you.”
    • In March 1997, Daqamseh perpetrated the Island of Peace Massacre, opening fire with an automatic weapon at Israeli schoolgirls on a trip to the Jordan-Israel border, killing seven of them and wounding five others and a teacher.

Suhweil praising Ahmed Daqamseh who committed the Island of Peace Massacre.

  • On January 29, 2016, Suhweil shared on Facebook a picture of seven excavators of a Hamas terror-tunnel who died when the tunnel collapsed on them. Suhweil quoted the Palestinian poet Ibrahim Tuqan, “Do not cry because of his [lack of] well-being, his spirit is above his comfort. His suit is what interests him, the shroud is more [important] than the pillow.” Suhweil added, “What is important is that you continue. #Glory_to_the_martyrs.”

Suhweil shared a picture of and praised seven dead Hamas terror-tunnel excavators

  • On July 14, 2015, Suhweil shared Addameer’s post on Facebook regarding Senior Leader of the PIJ Khader Adnan with the latter’s picture. Suhweil wrote, “Khader Adnan is a free role model and a figure respected in a time when freemen have bravery.”
  • On September 24, 2013, Suhweil shared on Facebook a picture from a protest to release Palestinian prisoners and wrote, “Prisoner colleagues, Ayman Nasser, Anas Barghouti, Samer Arbid. Freedom to you and to the freedom prisoners.”
    • Nasser is the former coordinator of Addameer’s legal unit. On July 29, 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Nasser’s administrative detention. It found that he had engaged in “organizational activity in the context of the Popular Front,” which was “significant and dangerous, along with additional Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine] members.” [On file with NGO Monitor.]
    • Barghouti was an Addameer lawyer who was arrested in September 2013and was subsequently charged with “membership in the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine” and “leadership of a committee to organize demonstrations.”
    • Addameer listed Arbid as an accountant for several years. Arbid was placed several times in administrative detention since 2007. According to Israeli security officials, on August 23, 2019, Arbid commanded a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother. According to the indictment, Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device.
  • On October 20, 2011, Suhweil shared on Facebook an article by Walid Daqqa and wrote, “Congratulations to the hero Walid Daqqa and thank you for this spirit and high morale...My comrade, we learn from your endurance and persistence. We take pride that you are our father and uncle. May you and all the prisoners have glory…”
    • Daqqa, a member of the PFLP, was sentenced in 1987 to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam.

Ehteram Ghazawneh

According to Addameer, Ehteram Ghazawneh has been working as the research and documentation unit coordinator at Addameer since 2011.5 According to an October 12, 2021, Al-Araby article, Ghazawneh held the role of “head of the [research and] documentation unit at Addameer”. According to Arabic-language media sources, in 2010, Ghazawneh held the role of head of the “women prisoners support program” at Addameer.

  • On March 8, 2020, Ghazawneh shared on Facebook a picture of Amal Takatka and detailed the story of her arrest. Ghazawneh wrote, “Amal [Arabic for hope], her name carries what we all wish for the women prisoners, hope for a fast freedom and a necessary victory. On International Women’s Day, salutations to the women prisoners who [themselves] outline the most magnificent role models and embody the ideal Palestinian woman in their steadfastness and opposition to the prison officials’ oppression.”
    • Takatka was arrested by Israeli forces on December 1, 2014, after she attempted to stab an Israeli citizen at the Gush Etzion junction.
  • On July 22, 2016, Ghazawneh shared on Facebook a post with a poster calling for “freedom for the prisoner hero Bilal Kaid,” and wrote, “On the anniversary of the assassination of the artist Naji Al-Ali, may the prisoner fighter Bilal Kaid have freedom. #Naji_Al-Ali #Freedom_for_Bilal_Kaid.”
  • On March 8, 2014, Ghazawneh posted on Facebook, “To every Palestinian woman in the world, to the farmer, hard-working laborer and employee, to the martyr’s mother, the prisoner’s mother and the women prisoners, to the martyr Mu’ataz Washha, to all of you, long live the Palestinian woman, as a symbol for the fight and struggle and a stage for opposition and steadfastness” (emphasis added).

Spreading libels:

  • On August 10, 2020, Quds News Network quoted Ghazawneh as saying, “Medical neglect is a systematic policy for the Israeli occupation. Not only does it cause health deterioration to prisoners who are already sick, but it often causes healthy prisoners to fall sick because of unhealthy detention conditions…The Israeli court decision to reject physical distancing of prisoners is in itself a new form of medical neglect… the occupation uses the prisoners’ health conditions as a tool to psychologically torture them and their families. It’s a means of revenge, and as a collective punishment, it’s a war crime too.”
  • In a March 2020 interview to the Electronic Intifada, Ghazawneh said, “The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has adopted a ‘policy of deliberate medical neglect against prisoners and detainees.’”

Sumoud Sa’adat

Sumoud Sa’adat has held the position of field researcher at Addameer since April 2016.6 Previously, Sa’adat held the position of documentation officer from July 2015, according to an Adameer Facebook post. She began working at Addameer in 2011 as a research assistant.

Notably, Sumoud is the daughter of PFLP Secretary General Ahmed Sa’adat.

  • On October 5, 2016, the PFLP’s official website published an article by Sa’adat and referred to her as a “comrade.”
  • On February 23, 2021, Sa’adat shared on Facebook a picture of her father, Ahmed Sa’adat, and wrote, “…Good morning Abu Ghassan [Sa’adat’s alias], good morning our stubborn and firm bright flame…you are 68 years old and still capable of giving and sacrificing the long years of your life in prison for your people and for human liberty which you believe in. May you be free despite the shackles and the prison guards. May you be the lighthouse which guides us. We love you so much our role model…”

Sumoud Sa’adat shared a picture of her father and PFLP Secretary General Ahmed Sa’adat praising him

  • On November 10, 2020, Sa’adat shared on Facebook a picture of Kamal Abu Waer and hailed him, “...The martyr prisoner Kamal Abu Waer, may you have glory.”
    • Kamal Abu Waer served multiple life sentences for his role in several terror attacks against Israeli civilians during the Second Intifada, as a member of the Tanzim, an armed branch of the Palestinian Fatah movement.
  • On August 20, 2020, Sa’adat shared On Facebook an official PFLP poster of Muhammad Sa’adat, a PFLP member and brother of Ahmed Sa’adat, who was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces. Sa’adat wrote, “Your passing is still worse than painful. 18 years have passed and you are still ever present, may your spirit have glory and peace…” The poster reads “The PFLP mourns its martyr fighter Muhammad Sa’adat. May you have glory and our loyalty.”
  • On June 7, 2020, Sa’adat shared on Facebook a poster of former PIJ Secretary General Ramadan Shalah, and wrote, “Mercy and glory to your spirit, may your firm mind have eternal life.” The poster calls Shalah “the national commander.”
  • On October 17, 2016, Al-Quds News published an article by Sa’adat titled “October 17, a unique symbol in the resistance’s history,” in which Sa’adat glorifies the PFLP’s assassination of Israel’s Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi that took place on October 17, 2001. In the article, Sa’adat calls the assassination “a heroic operation” and says that “before all else, we must send our proud and loyal congratulations to the minds and forearms of the knights that carried out the judgment of the Palestinian people.”
  • PFLP affiliation:
    • On October 5, 2016, the PFLP’s official website published an article by Sa’adat and referred to her as a “comrade.”

Al-Haq's Ties to the PFLP

In May 2018, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express shut down online credit card donations to Al-Haq due to the group’s ties to the PFLP.

Shawan Jabarin

Shawan Jabarin circled. Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (2:47)

  • According to multiple Arabic-language media sources, Jabarin represented the PFLP at a December 2011 meeting of the Follow-Up Committee for Issues of Public Liberties and Trust Building. This body served as a reconciliatory body between Hamas, Fatah, PIJ, the PFLP, and other Palestinian factions.
    • According to coverage in the Al-Wafd news outlet, Jabarin, a “PFLP representative on the committee” announced his resignation after he was identified by his PFLP affiliation. According to Al-Wafd, Jabarin complained that “classifying committee members according to their parties does not benefit its work, but complicates it and intensifies its problems. This [refraining from classifying party affiliation] is what I asked from the committee as its member.”
  • Jabarin was convicted in 1985 for recruiting and arranging training for members for the PFLP. A 1994 Israeli statement to the UN notes that he “had not discontinued his terrorist involvement and maintains his position in the leadership of the PFLP.”
  • In 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected Jabarin’s appeal to travel abroad, stating that “the current petitioner is apparently acting as a manner of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, acting some of the time as the CEO of a human rights organization, and at other times as an activist in a terror organization which has not shied away from murder and attempted murder, which have nothing to do with rights…”
  • In 2008, the Israeli Supreme Court noted that Jabarin is “among the senior activists of the Popular Front terrorist organization.”
  • In 2009, Jabarin was again prohibited by the Israeli authorities from travelling abroad. Jabarin appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court which rejected his appeal, stating, “We found that the material pointing to the petitioner’s involvement in the activity of terrorist entities is concrete and reliable material.”

Bisan's Ties to the PFLP

Ubai Aboud

Ubai Aboudi, Bisan’s Executive Director, was arrested by the Israeli authorities on November 13, 2019. In June 2020, Aboudi was sentenced to 12 months in prison. According to his conviction, Aboudi “was convicted of being a member and an activist of the Popular Front organization during the period starting from 2016 and ending in July 2019.” Specifically, Aboudi “was responsible for recruiting additional activists to the organization from young people and students, as well as strengthening the organization’s infrastructure in the area” (on file with NGO Monitor).

Itiraf Hajaj (Rimawi)

Itiraf Hajaj (Rimawi) served as Bisan’s previous Executive Director (his name is listed as the contact person in the 2017 Viva Salud’s report mentioned above). Rimawi was arrested on September 23, 2019, and an Israeli authorities’s statement refers to him as responsible for PFLP clandestine operations. Additionally, according to the PFLP-linked organization Samidoun, in 1995-2017, Rimawi was arrested several times.2 A 2016 High Court of Justice decision [HCJ-2524/16] referred to Rimawi as a “PFLP member” who “posed a security threat” (on file with NGO Monitor).

In July 2020, Bisan refused to comply with anti-terror requirements for EU funding. A representative of Bisan stated on Al Jazeera that the group opposes conditional funding and the new EU anti-terror clause: “Palestinian civil society is donor-dependent. Bisan used to get its funding primarily from EU governments, but we withdrew our project concept notes for this year after they [European Union] included the ATC [anti-terror clause] in their contracts.”

Gebril Muhamad

  • Attended a May 2019 memorial event organized by the PFLP. It centered on PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who, according to information posted by the PFLP, “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.

Gebril Muhamad interviewed Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (5:27”)

DCI-P's Ties to the PFLP

Hashem Abu Maria

According to DCI-P, Hashem Abu Maria “served as the coordinator of DCI-Palestine’s community mobilization unit, promoting constructive child participation throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory” where he “focused on Palestinian teens monitoring and documenting child rights violations in Hebron.” In July 2014, Abu Maria was killed during a violent confrontation in Beit Ummar.

  • Following his death, he was hailed by the PFLP as a “leader,” which issued an official mourning announcement.
  • The PFLP announcement praised his work for DCI-P, stating “he was in the ranks of the national liberation struggle and the PFLP from an early age, arrested several times, and was a model for a steadfast struggler and advocate for the rights of our people through his work in Defence for Children International.”
  • The PFLP also quoted a post from Abu Maria’s Facebook “It is clear the defeat of the ideas of tolerance, normalization…snuggling, kissing and beauty with the enemy state and its institutions, and instead the rise of the concepts of solidarity, co- operation and mutual support among the Palestinian people, promoting a culture of unity and resistance, a sense of belonging and identity…the youth are rising and the Intifada regrouping…” (emphasis added).
  • The PFLP announcement furthered “With those words, this true revolutionary comrade went to join the demonstration and joined the martyrs of Palestine, his blood shed at the hands of the occupier’s forces. The Front pledges to the leader and his fellow martyrs, to all of the martyrs who have fallen on the path of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine, that the struggle of the resistance everywhere in Palestine until all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, is liberated.”
  • On September 23, 2014, DCI-P uploaded a video (see Appendix II) of a memo- rial service for Abu Maria, featuring a speech by DCI-P General Director, Rifat Odeh Kassis. (On file with NGO Monitor). The courtyard where the memorial service took place was decorated with PFLP flags, posters, and pictures of prominent PFLP figures, such as founder George Habash and former leader Ahmed Sa’adat. Nearly all of the audience is dressed in PFLP apparel.
  • The PFLP also posted an article in September 2014 noting that the PFLP in Hebron held a memorial service for “its martyr.” The article notes that PFLP leader “comrade” Badran Jabir delivered the speech on behalf of the PFLP and Rifat Kasis spoke on behalf of DCI-P. The article further states that Sahar Francis (see below) spoke as a representative of “Hashem’s friends.”
  • Another video of the memorial service shows posters of Abu Maria featuring the PFLP emblem and of Abu Maria with the DCI-P logo. (On file with NGO Monitor).
  • A December 28, 2014 video of a PFLP event commemorating a PFLP member killed by Israeli troops clearly shows PFLP posters honoring Abu Maria alongside posters of key figures in the terrorist organization. (See Appendix III, video on file with NGO Monitor).
  • An August 2014 article in Ha’aretz about Abu Maria’s death cites his position in DCI-P, as well as noting that “Mourning notices now drape the house, together with banners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the organization in which Abu Maria was active politically.”
  • DCI-P dedicated its 2014 annual report to Abu Maria.

Riyad Arar

Director of DCI-P’s Child Protection Program.7 He previously served in other roles in the organization, including directing the group’s Hebron office until at least August 2015. Arar is closely involved in coordinating DCI-P cooperation with UNICEF on “monitoring human rights violations.”

  • Arar addressed the December 28, 2014 PFLP memorial event for a group member who was killed “while engaging in a demonstration confronting the occupation forces with stones and Molotov cocktails.” (See Appendix III, video on file with NGO Monitor.)
  • The event featured PFLP paraphernalia and individuals clad in military garb – some of whom appear to be children(video on file with NGO Monitor).
  • In February 2018, Arar spoke at a Palestinian Prisoner Forum event in Hebron alongside “senior” PFLP official Badran Jaber.

Nassar Ibrahim

President of DCI-P’s General Assembly until at least 20178 – one of the group’s governing bodies – and previously served on DCI-P’s board.

  • Ibrahim is the former editor of El Hadaf– the PFLP’s weekly publication.
  • On May 1, 2014, the PFLP unveiled a mural “developed by writer and journalist Nassar Ibrahim,” honoring PFLP founder George Habash. Several PFLP members attended and spoke at the event.
  • A December 2015 video shows Ibrahim presenting to a group of foreigners where he argues for a Palestinian “right of resistance”:
    • “What you can do depends on you. I’m not asking you to come, to fight, to raise the gun. If you believe in that, do that…But I’m not asking you to come to raise the gun with me. I’m asking you to recognize my right to resist as a people under occupation…Don’t judge me based on how I see my role in order to end the occupation.”
    • “The balance of power to the ground will not be changed- only by resistance, not by negotiation… I am not saying that I am against the negotiation but the negotia- tion is not the tool to achieve the right it is a result of our resistance.
    • “The policy of the Zionist government in Israel, they are preparing for a new holocaust in the Middle East for the Jewish…350 million Arabs will not be sleeping forever” (emphasis added).
  • In 2002, together with Majed Nassar, Ibrahim published the book The Palestinian Intifada: Cry Freedom, which is unabashedly supportive of the terror campaign of the early 2000s:
    • “The Palestinian resistance movement has therefore concluded that every check- point, every soldier and every settler are legitimate targets in the struggle for freedom and independence, thus rendering all theories and strategies of supremacy irrelevant. In essence then, everything becomes a target: Jerusalem, Haifa, Hadera, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, the settlements, the checkpoints, the military installations and even the Israeli Ministry of Defense” (page 94)
    • “No Palestinian accepts that the political parties that have struggled over the last fifty years should be regarded as ‘terrorist organizations,’ simply because their cause of liberation is anathema to the United States and its stepchild, Israel” (page 117) .
  • In February 2019and July 2016, Ibrahim published articles on the PFLP’s Lebanon website. He is also quoted on the PFLP’s Syrian branch’s
  • A May 31, 2019 post by the “Alternative Information Center, Palestine” notes that Ibrahim also serves as its director and stated that he “believes in the right of the Palestinians to resist in all its forms, including the armed struggle…and calls for controlling the weapons of the resistance in accordance with a political vision.”

Mahmoud Jiddah

According to DCI-P, Mahmoud Jiddah served as a DCI-P board member in 2012-2016. A May 13, 2017 picture taken at a meeting of the DCI-P General Assembly shows Jiddah standing next to General Assembly President Nassar Ibrahim, indicating his ongoing affiliation with DCI-P.

  • Jiddah was imprisoned by Israel for 17 years for carrying out grenade attacks against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem in 1968. A February 2017 Al Jazeera article furthers that Jiddah was arrested in 1968 for joining the front and carrying out terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, Hebron, and Tel Aviv.
  • According to news reports, following a 2016 meeting with Jiddah, Didier Ortiz, then a Green Party candidate for the Fort Lauderdale City Council, posted an Instagram photo of Jiddah citing the latter’s PFLP affiliation.
  • An April 2017 article in Arabic language media notes that Jiddah is “of the PFLP cadres” and that he spent his last twenty years serving different periods of time in jail.
  • A March 2006 article in Arabic language media notes that Jiddah was arrested and refers to him as a PFLP official.

Sahar Francis

DCI-P listed Sahar Francis DCI-P board member in 2007-2008.

Hassan Abdel Jawad

Hassan Abdel Jawad served as a DCI-P board member in 2012–2018.

  • On October 17, 2016, Abdel Jawad appears to have spoken on behalf of the PFLP at an event commemorating a PFLP member who was killed (according to the PFLP) “while engaging in a demonstration confronting the occupation forces with stones and Molotov cocktails.”
  • Appears to have spoken on behalf of the PFLP at a 2012 event organized by the group, honoring former Bethlehem mayor Victor Batarseh.
  • Abdel Jawad appears to have been a PFLP candidate for the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006.

Halima Abu-Solb

According to the organization DCI-P, Halima Abu-Solb was elected to DCI-P’s board for a period of two years in April 2016 – 2018. A November 2014 article published in Ma’an also notes that Abu-Solb was elected to the organization’s general assembly for a period of two years in 2014.

  • According to a June 2007 article in Arabic language media, Abu-Solb was sentenced to a three year “PFLP prison-sentence.”
  • In a March 2013 interview, Abu-Solb acknowledged that she was sent to prison before the Palestinian violence in the late 1980s for a period of three years. She also acknowledged that she is one of the founders of the PFLP-tied NGO Addameer and that she is a member of the “Women’s Council at the [Palestinian] lawyers’ bar association.”
  • In July 2012, the PFLP, under its “news” section, reports that Abu-Solb spoke at a conference organized by the “Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling.”
  • Abu-Solb participated in an event with the wife of the PFLP secretary general Ahmed Saadat during at a “Land Day” commemoration event organized by the “Union of Women’s Committees” of the Bethlehem area.

Mary Rock

According to DCI-P, Mary Rock was a DCI-P board member in 2014–2018.

Samer Ajaj

Arabic language media identifies Samer Ajaj as the coordinator of DCI-P’s Community Empowerment Unit.9 He previously ran DCI-P’s office in Nablus.

  • In 2012, Ajaj appears to have run for elected office in Nablus as a member of a list jointly controlled by the PFLP and another Palestinian organization.

Shawan Jabarin

Shawan Jabarin served on DCI-P’s board from at least 2005–2009.

  • According to a 1995 Israeli submission to the UN, Jabarin was convicted in 1985 for recruiting and arranging training for members for the PFLP. A 1994 Israeli statement to the UN notes that he “had not discontinued his terrorist involvement and maintains his position in the leadership of the PFLP.”
  • In 2007, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected his appeal to go abroad, stating that “the current petitioner is apparently acting as a manner of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, acting some of the time as the CEO of a human rights organization, and at other times as an activist in a terror organization which has not shied away from murder and attempted murder, which have nothing to do with rights…”
  • In 2009, Jabarin was again prohibited by the Israeli authorities from travelling abroad. Jabarin appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court which rejected his appeal, stating, “We found that the material pointing to the petitioner’s involvement in the activity of terrorist entities is concrete and reliable material.”
  • According to multiple Arabic-language media sources, Al-Haq General Director Shawan Jabarin represented the PFLP at a December 2011 meeting of the Follow-Up Committee for Issues of Public Liberties and Trust Building. This body served as a reconciliatory body between Hamas, Fatah, PIJ, the PFLP, and other Palestinian factions.
    • According to coverage in the Al-Wafd news outlet, Jabarin, a “PFLP representative on the committee” announced his resignation after he was identified by his PFLP affiliation. According to Al-Wafd, Jabarin complained that “classifying committee members according to their parties does not benefit its work, but complicates it and intensifies its problems. This [refraining from classifying party affiliation] is what I asked from the committee as its member.”

Majed Nasser

Nasser served as a DCI-P board member from at least 2007-2009.

  • Nasser previously served as Executive Director of the Palestinian Health Work Committees (HWC), an organization banned in 2015 by Israel for involvement in terrorism. In 2009, HWC’s Nidal Center was closed by Israel because of its ties to the PFLP.
  • Nasser co-wrote The Palestinian Intifada: Cry Freedom, a book that praises the Palestinian terror campaign of the early 2000s (see section on Nassar Ibrahim above).

Fatima Daana

Fatima Daana served as a DCI-P board member in 2012–2018. In 2014-2016, she served as the group’s treasurer.

  • Daana is the widow of Raed Nazzal, the former commander of the PFLP’s armed wing (the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades) in Qalqilya. Nazzal was responsible for several terrorist attacks and was killed in 2002 in a shootout with IDF forces.

Concerning Imagery and Rhetoric

In June 2020, DCI-P elected a new board; some of the appointed individuals have celebrated convicted terrorists, posted violent images, and made antisemitic statements on social media. (See NGO Monitor’s report “DCI-P’s New Board: Celebrating Terrorists” for more details.)

Yaser Amouri

Yaser Amouri, appointed treasurer, has posted in support of terrorists who attacked Israeli civilians and police officers, as well as glorified leaders of other terrorist organizations.

Celebration of Yasin Abu Khdeir's release from Israeli prison, January 5, 2014, https://www.facebook.com/Yaser.Amouri/posts/814041635288966

Adla Nazer

Adla Nazer, appointed secretary, has used Facebook to honor terrorists and promote violent rhetoric.

  • On December 13, 2018, Nazer posted a picture of Salah Barghouthi and Ashraf Na’alwa–active terrorists who had been killed by Israeli forces: “Once more, what a loss for us – every drop of blood of theirs. What a bad morning.”
  • On October 19, 2015, Nazer wrote on Facebook, “our knives that stretch to their necks are not comparable even a little to the repression that the occupation has done to us over decades. Our small and large knives, the ones that kill and the ones that injure, they are but our mothers’ kitchen knives… it is the knife of the Jerusalemite who revolts against the occupation’s policies… They [the Israelis] cause panic in the hearts of our children, they burn our houses, poison to death our sheep, burn our olives, open fire at our hearts, they walk within us with their weapons, they hurl at us the most offensive and racist curses, they celebrate our blood and are even capable of drinking it. They take by force the earth and the heavens… long live the nation, long live the knife” (emphases added).

 

 

Yazan al-Zubaidy

Yazan al-Zubaidy became DCI-P’s Vice President. On several occasions, he has utilized social media to promote extreme rhetoric, dehumanize Zionists, and delegitimize Zionism.

 
 
 

Financial Institutions Cut Ties with DCI-P

DCI-P previously directed donors wishing to make contributions in US dollars to a Citi Bank account in New York (account number 36371743), as well as to an Arab Bank account in Ramallah. On June 26, 2018, UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) announced that after presenting evidence of the close ties between DCI-P and the PFLP to Citibank and Arab Bank PLC, “these banks no longer provide banking services to the terror linked NGO.” As a result, DCI-P no longer directs its supporters to make donations through these institutions. Global Giving, a US-based crowdfunding resource, also removed DCI-P from its website.

UAWC’s Ties to the PFLP

UAWC – West Bank Employees with Ties to the PFLP

Samer Arbid

Arbid worked as UAWC’s financial director at the time of his 2019 arrest.financial director at the time of his arrest. An Arabic-language media source identified him as UAWC’s accountant., '>11 According to Samidoun, yet another PFLP-linked NGO, Arbid was the “financial director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in the West Bank” in 2016.

Previously, the PFLP-tied NGO Addameer’s website listed Arbid as its accountant for several years.

Arbid is seen in a March 2019 photo posted on Facebook by UAWC (Source: UAWC, Facebook, March 21, 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20191030092528/https://www.facebook.com/uawcpal/photos/a.194160117304192/2118876701499181/?type=3&theater)

2016 Grassroots International Post regarding Arbid’s 2015 arrest (Source: Grassroots International, Facebook, April 12, 2016: https://www.facebook.com/GrassrootsIntll/photos/a.10150263324402756/10153603329272756/?type=1&theater)

2016 Samidoun article regarding Arbid’s 2016 detention (Source: Samidoun, “Palestinian land defender’s imprisonment without charge or trial extended by Israeli military occupation,” March 14, 2016: https://samidoun.net/2016/03/palestinian-land-defenders-imprisonment-without-charge-or-trial-extended-by-israeli-military-occupation/)

Abdul Razeq Farraj

UAWC Finance and Administration Director.12

  • Farraj was arrested on October 23, 2019 and indicted on 4 counts in Israeli military court. His alleged crimes include:
    • Holding a position in an illegal organization. This allegedly included responsibility for recruiting new members into the PFLP. Under this count, the indictment notes that Samer Arbid informed Farraj about “attacks and attempted attacks” carried out by the terror cell led by the former, as well as details pertaining to its weapons and explosives.
    • Aiding an attempt to cause death in connection to the August 2019 bombing.
  • The indictment also states that “a few days after the terror attack, Farraj met with Hanatsheh at Farraj’s place of work office and the two discussed the attack.”
  • Spent six years, from 1985-1991, in “an Israeli prison after being convicted of affiliation with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
  • According to Amnesty International, Farraj was released from prison in July 2018 after spending 14 months (from May 2017) in administrative detention.
  • According to Addameer, Farraj was also in administrative detention from May 30, 1994-February 1, 1996; April 9, 2002 – July 28, 2006; January 12, 2009 – October 6, 2009; November 27, 2011 – July 20, 2012; and February 25, 2014 until at least October 2015.

Abdul Rzeq Farraj (Source: الحرية لاسير الحرية عبد الرازق فراج, Facebook, May 26, 2014: https://www.facebook.com/710570302335672/photos/a.710583729000996/710604825665553/?type=3&theater)

Ismat al-Shuli

Member of UAWC’s Board of Directors at least in 2009-2010 and 2016.

  • Al-Shuli was in Israeli prison for seven years, beginning in 1975, for “belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” He was also in jail for “five years from 1983 to 1988, and then administrative detention for two periods of 16 months, 1989 and then again in 1990, bringing the number of years in detention to 14 years.” Al-Shuli was again arrested on March 4, 2014 and released on January 1, 2015 after 10 months in administrative detention.
  • A December 2017 article in Palestinian media refers to al-Shuli as a “PFLP leader” and refers to a statement he gave during a “mass rally” through the streets of Ramallah with “thousands of Palestinians, including supporters of the PFLP.”
  • In September 2016, al-Shuli spoke at a PFLP event commemorating PFLP Secretary General Abu Ali Mustafa and was referred to as a PFLP “leader.”
  • On March 30, 2010, Al-Shuli attended a UAWC “Land Day” celebration. Other attendees included PFLP Deputy Secretary-General Abdel Rahim Malloh and UAWC board members Bashir Al Khairi, Al-Barghouthi, and Khalid Al-Hadmi.

Khaled Hidmi

Was UAWC’s General Director at least in 2009-2014.

  • Hidmi simultaneously headed the UAWC’s West Bank branch and the Israeli Agricultural Work Committee organization. This Israeli entity was disbanded by a court order in 2018 due to financial irregularities and a lack of transparency (on file with NGO Monitor).
  • As mentioned above, in 2014, UAWC opened a new center to market agricultural products. The center’s inaugural event was attended by Hidmi, as well as Abdul Rahim Malloh, then Deputy Secretary-General of the PFLP.

Khaled Al-Hadmi (left) with PFLP Deputy Secretary-General Abdel Rahim Malloh. (Source: https://www.wattan.tv/ar/news/112805.html)

 

Hadmi and PFLP Deputy Secretary-General Abdel Rahim Malloh together at a UAWC in event. Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20190706210803/http:/uawc-pal.org/Files/cb283a5a-bacf-462f-90cd-f015748760ec.pdf.pdf

Yusuf Abd al-Haq

Yusuf Abd al-Haq was member of UAWC’s Board of Directors at least in 2012 and 2016. In 2014, Abd al-Haq was referred to as a legal and economic adviser at a UAWC conference. In 2018, he took part in the UAWC’s annual general assembly.Referred to, on multiple occasions, as a PFLP “leader.”

  • In February 2014, according to the PFLP, “Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, a former lecturer at the university, spoke on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, discussing Habash’s life as well as a current political analysis of the Palestinian cause.”13
  • In 2014, according to Al Jazeera, “The Israeli occupation forces launched a campaign of arrests that included leaders and cadres of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) at An-Najah University in Nablus in the northern West Bank. Dr. Yousef Abdul-Haq – Professor of Economics at An-Najah University in Nablus – was one of the most prominent detainees…”

Bashir al-Khairi

Former president of UAWC’s Board, from at least 2009-2010 until 2011.

  • A May 4, 2014 PFLP article refers to Al-Khairi as a “leader” and a “comrade.” The article also explains that Al-Khairi attended a May 1, 2014 PFLP event where a mural was unveiled “honouring al-Hakim, Dr. George Habash, the founder of the Front and the Arab Nationalist Movement.
  • In August 2014, according to the PFLP, al-Khairi stressed that the “approach of resistance and liberation in the life of Comrade Abu Ali Mustafa is still firmly in the mind of every free Palestinian” at a PFLP event commemorating the “13thAnniversary of Martyrdom of its Secretary General Abu Ali Mustafa.” At the event, Al-Khairi stated that “the time has come to recognize those who contributed to the steadfastness of Gaza in its war against the Zionist enemy, namely Iran, Syria, and Lebanon, headed by Hezbollah.”
  • According to a 2002 CNN article, Khairi was the head of the PFLP political bureau.
  • According to a 2013 AusAID document, Bashir al Khairi was “convicted of terrorist offences in 1969 and gaoled for 15 years.”
  • In statements in 2012 and 2014, the PFLP referred to Al-Khairi as an “historic leader,” a “comrade,” and a “leader.”
  • Khairi was arrested in 2010and 2011. According to an article in Arabic language media, in 2010, Al-Khairi was arrested by the IDF along with other PFLP members. The article refers to him as being a member of the PFLP’s National Council.
  • Al-Khairi also served on the PFLP-tied NGO Addameer’s Board of Directors.

Ahmad Sufan

According to UAWC’s website, Sufan was a member of UAWC’s Board of Directors until at least 2012.

  • According to Palestinian media, in 2014, “The members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Sufan and Yasin Farraj were arrested.”
  • Sufan was also arrested in 2012.

Muhammad Nujum

According to UAWC’s website, Nujum was the manager of UAWC’s Jericho office in 2012–2018.

Fouad Abu Seif

Director of UAWC’s Operations and Development Department until at least 2012.14

  • According to Ma’an News Agency, on July 26, 2012, the “Israeli occupation forces at dawn arrested the Director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees Operations and Development Department, Fouad Abu Seif…”
  • UAWC “denounced” Abu Seif’s arrest.

Mu’ayyad Bashart

According to UAWC’s website, Bashart was UAWC’s Jericho Project Coordinator in at least 2012.

Rezeq Al-Barghothy

Al-Bargothy served as Chairman of UAWC’s Board of Directors until 2019 and was identified by Arabic-language media as a member of UAWC’s board as of July 2021. 15

Al-Bargothy participating in sit-in “in solidarity” with Palestinian prisoners who were on a hunger strike. Source: Al-Ayyam, June, 29, 2016 : http://www.al-ayyam.ps/ar_page.php?id=111f6291y287269521Y111f6291

Jaber Qarmout

According to a May 2018 UAWC’s Facebook post, Qarmout is a member of UAWC’s administrative council.

  • In 2017 and 2016, Qarmout celebrated the “martyrdom” of his brother Zidan Qarmout with PFLP members, including a commander of the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades.
  • In 2014, Qarmout attended a graduation ceremony organized by the Progressive Student Action Front, the PFLP’s “student organization.”

UAWC – Gaza Employees with Ties to the PFLP

Zakaria Bakr

UAWC’s “head of the Gaza Fisherman Committee” at least in 2018-2019. 16

UAWC’s Zakaria Bakr with senior PFLP members, including PFLP Central Committee Member Abu Nidal Toman (middle, with trophy in hand) (Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20190707085251/https://pflp.ps/post/16040/%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%81-%D8%B0%D9%83%D8%B1%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D8%B4%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7-%D9%84%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%A9%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%B2%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B8%D9%85)

Hiba Abdul Kareem

According to UAWC’s website, Abdul Kareem was elected to UAWC’s Board of Directors in May 2016.

  • The PFLP refers to Kareem as a “comrade.”
  • In August 2018, according to the PFLP, Kareem spoke at a PFLP event and “welcomed attendees” in honor of “martyr Jabhahaoui” under the slogan “going on the path of martyrdom and resistance.” Kareem’s speech further paid “tribute” to “martyrs.” According to the PFLP’s description of the event, “the hall was decorated with a number of PFLP banners, pictures of PFLP martyrs and its Secretary General, Commander Ahmed Saadat, as well as pictures of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah…”
  • In November 2017, according to the PFLP, Kareem participated in a PFLP meeting. The PFLP cites her as a “project coordinator” and refers to the speech she gave about project implementation mechanisms at the event.
  • In December 2016, according to the PFLP, Kareem was spoke at a large PFLP gathering in “memory of the martyr Sami Madi.”17 At the event, Jamil Mezher (see above) addressed the PFLP, called for “Intifada and resistance” and celebrated PFLP hijackings and attacks such as the assassination of Minister Ze’evi and the Har Nof synagogue massacre.
  • In November 2015, the PFLP referred to Kareem as a “member of the center district leadership” to help “families in need and affected by the aggression…” According to the PFLP, Kareem explained that the “campaign was carried out in conjunction with the launching of the Popular Front and the embodiment of its social and humanitarian role…”

Magdy Yaghi

Former member of UAWC’s Board of Directors (from 2010 until at least 2013). In 2019, Yaghi participated in a UAWC event.

Taghreed Jomee

Served as a UAWC board member in 2010–2012. According to Palestine Press News Agency, Jomee held the position of secretary of the board at least in 2011.

Suliman Shahin (Shaheen)

According to his Facebook, Shahin works at UAWC Gaza.18

“Burn and Death to Israel” (Source: Suliman Shaheen, Facebook, July 8, 2014: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1489134694656822&set=pb.100006809172573.2207520000.1562136806.&type=3&theater)

“Blood = Blood #Kill_Them” (Source: Suliman Shaheen, Facebook, July 6, 2014: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1488233458080279&set=pb.100006809172573.-2207520000.1562136806.&type=3&theater)

UPWC’s Ties to the PFLP

Selected UPWC Staff Members with Ties to the PFLP

Numerous UPWC staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group.

Khitam Saafin: UPWC President. 19

  • In, Khitam Saafin was arrested by Israeli security forces.
  • In a July 2017 statement published by the PFLP, the terrorist organization “confirmed that the Zionist occupation forces launched a pre-dawn campaign of raids across the occupied West Bank of Palestine on Sunday, arresting a number of leaders and activists of the Front, led by the Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar, feminist activist Khitam Saafin and former prisoner Ihab Massoud, as well as a number of activists in al-Khalil” (emphasis added). The PFLP also “urged the Palestinian masses to escalate the popular movement to support the struggle of the brave prisoners in Israeli jails, for Jarrar and Saafin and the prisoner Muhammad Allan, on hunger strike for 25 days.”
  • The PFLP has referred to Saafin as a “comrade.”

Suhair Khader: UPWC Vice President.20

  • According to the PFLP, Suhair Khader is “a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
  • In a March 2018 article on the PFLP’s website, Khader states that the “recovery of our stolen rights and the realization of our national and struggle project, which is basically the right of return –the essence of the conflict between us and the Zionist enemy rapist– can only be through the crystallization of a mass of pressure and severe masses flowing to the camps return” (emphasis added). Khader further “stressed the need to strengthen women’s participation and the need for them to be advanced to the front rows and to continue their struggle. They must also be armed with the motivation and determination until the restoration of our national rights, as manifested in the right of return and the liberation of every centimeter of occupied Palestine” (emphasis added).

Photo of Suhair Khader on PFLP Website with PFLP flag in the background. (Source: PFLP, “Khadr: We call for intensifying the participation of women in the march of return as an essential partner in the struggle,” March 29, 2018)

Samira Abdel-Alim: UPWC board.21

  • According to the PFLP, Abdel-Alim is a member of the PFLP’s Central Committee.
  • In 2015, Samira Abdel-Alim participated in a symposium “In Support of Our Heroes” that called for the “support of the prisoners in the prisons of the Zionist enemy.” The symposium, which took place at UPWC’s headquarters, was co-organized by the International Campaign for Solidarity with the PFLP’s Secretary-General Ahmad Saadat.

Iktimal Hamad, head22 of UPWC and a PFLP Central Committee member.23

Maha Nassar

  • According to an October 2013 statement published by UPWC on the PFLP’s website, Nassar, who died in 2008, “contributed to the foundation of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees in 1980, elected as its president in 1994, and was reelected twice afterwards.”
  • According the statement, Nassar “was one of the first people who founded the Popular Front Organization” at Birzeit University. According to the same statement, she also served as a “member in the Assembly” of the Palestinian NGO Woman’s Affairs Technical Committee(WATC).24
  • In the statement, UPWC claims that “her actions have always preceded her words, like those of Shadia Abu Ghazaleh and Dalal Al Moghrabi and all Palestinian women martyrs” and that “Comrade Maha’s visible role in the first and second Intifada is well known to the Palestinian people.”
  • In 1978, Dalal Mugrabi, a Palestinian terrorist, murdered38 civilians, including 13 children in the Coastal Road Massacre.
  • Shadia Abu Ghazaleh is referred to by the PFLP as a “comrade.” The PFLP website notes that she was “one of the original members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” and “one of the first Palestinian women to be involved in military resistance in the post-1967 era.” According to the PFLP, “She participated in and led several military operations carried out by the PFLP before the accidental detonation of a bomb in her home. Today, her name is immortal as a struggler, a leader, and a fighter in the history of the Palestinian people and the people of the world.”
  • The PFLP refers to Nassar as a “comrade,” “role model,” and “icon of national and democratic struggle.”
  • The PFLP also refers to her as “a leading Palestinian feminist” and “member of the Central Committee of the PFLP.”

Dalia Nassar: Maha Nassar’s (above) daughter, Dalia Nassar also appears to be a UPWC member25 and representative.26 She serves as UPWC coordinator for the Kanan Project (see above).

Ismat Shakhshir: UPWC member27 /and official28 in Nablus.

UPWC and Progressive Student Action Front Ceremony with banner of Leila Khaled (Source: PFLP, “The Student Action Front and the Union of Women’s Committees honor the active and successful student,” March 11, 2019)

Photo of Ismat Shakhshir during the ceremony in honor of the International Women's Day. (Source: PFLP, “The Student Action Front and the Union of Women’s Committees honor the active and successful student,” March 11, 2019)

Photo of Ismat Shakhshir during a workshop “The boycott of Israeli goods and its impact on the normalization” (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees Federation, Facebook, November 28, 2017)

Photo of Ismat Shakhshir during a workshop “Detention experiences and human rights during de-tention, interrogation and trial” (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, April 21, 2015)

UPWC's Incitement of Children

  • According to UPWC, the organization supervises the “Ghassan Kanafani” educational project for young children. Kanafani was a “leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”
  • The Ghassan Kanafani Project’s 2017 preschool graduation ceremony program included “solidarity with our brave prisoners” and children dressed in military uniforms and holding PFLP signs:

Pictures of the festivities marking the end of the 2017 Ghassan Kanafani project. The pictures are published on UPWC’s Facebook account and feature children wearing uniforms or T-shirts of Kanafani. One child is seen lying down on the floor with a gun. Others are dancing around with knives. One picture also presents children holding a poster of what appears to be PFLP prisoners. (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, May 29, 2017)

Appendix 1: UPWC Glorification of Terrorism

Post commemorating the terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, March 11, 2018)

UPWC honors “families of martyrs.” The picture features a “martyr” wearing a PFLP bandana. (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, March 26, 2019)

UPWC organized an event in commemoration of the PFLP’s founder George Habash. Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, February 4, 2018)

UPWC’s poster in honor of International Women’s Day: “Our voice is the voice of revolutions” (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, March 6, 2016)

UPWC Facebook post: “They are the partners of struggle” (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, March 31, 2019)

UPWC Facebook post: “Our women in the field side by side with our young heroes” (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, April 13, 2018)

In the context of anti-terror operations, Israeli forces arrested several NGO officials for their alleged links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization. Most of them were either in senior positions and/or officials responsible for financial matters at the NGO. 

The following presents information regarding the arrests, indictments, and convictions of at least 14 such individuals – associated with the PFLP-linked NGOs designated by Israel as terrorist entities.

Health Work Committees (HWC)

Walid Hanatsheh – Finance and administration manager (also PNGO board of directors)

  • Arrest: October 3, 2019
  • Status: Trial ongoing
  • Indictment: 
    • Hanathsheh is described by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) as the alleged leader of PFLP “military” operations. According to an Israeli media report, Hanatsheh bankrolled the August 23, 2019 bombing in which Rina Schnerb was murdered.
    • According to his indictment, Hanatsheh was indicted on 14 counts by an Israeli military court. His alleged crimes include: 
      • Multiple counts of premeditated attempts to cause death. These include involvement in shooting attacks against civilian buses and private vehicles, as well as the August 23, 2019 bomb attack.
      • Possession of weapons, including assault rifles 
      • Weapons trafficking 
      • Membership in an illegal organization 
      • Holding a position in an illegal organization
  • Following his arrest, the PFLP labeled Hanatsheh a "leader in the Popular Front."

Shatah Odeh – General Director (PNGO board chair and Coordinating Committee head)

  • Arrest: July 7, 2021
  • Status: Released in June 2022, after serving nearly a year in prison
  • Conviction: In May 2022, Odeh accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to crimes including holding a position in a banned organization, presence in the proceedings of a banned organization, and improperly transferring funds [into the West Bank] for her role in raising funds for the organization after it was declared a terrorist entity by the IDF in January 2020. 
  • She was sentenced to 16-months in prison and a 5-year suspended sentence. 

Tayseer Abu Sharbak – Senior Accountant

  • Status: According to HWC, released in June 2022
  • Indictment: According to his indictment, in 2009 or around that time, he began working for the organization as an accountant after being recruited by Walid [Hanatsheh]. As part of his position, he was responsible for the organization's annual balance sheet, the financial cycle, the deposit and withdrawal of funds from the organization's bank accounts. "He worked for the organization knowing that it was an organization that operates and belongs to the PFLP." As part of his work, he allegedly took part in forgery and laundering of funds that were used for activities on behalf of the PFLP.

Said Abdat – Former accountant

  • Arrest: May 2021
  • Status: Trial ongoing
  • According to his indictment, Abidat is accused of a series of crimes, including:
    • Membership and activity in an illegal organization
    • Holding a position in an illegal organization – In this context, the indictment describes his alleged actions to forge documents and present fictitious information regarding humanitarian activities in order to obtain funds from international donors, primarily in Spain. 

Amro Hamouda – Former head of purchasing

  • Arrested: May 2021
  • Status: Trial ongoing
  • According to his indictment, Hamoud is accused of a series of crimes, including:
    • Holding a position in an illegal organization – In this context, the indictment describes his alleged manipulation of financial records and documents, and presentation of fictitious information regarding humanitarian activities, in order to obtain funds from international donors, primarily in Spain.

Hoani Rishmawi – Responsible for fundraising in Europe

  • Status: Released in February 2022.
  • Conviction: As reported by the Times of Israel, Rishmawi was “Sentenced in November 2021 to 13 months in prison after a military court convicted her of working with an organization that it said was funding the” PFLP. Rishmawi “pled guilty in her November [2021] plea deal to unknowingly funding the PFLP via her work for a health organization.”
  • The specifics of Rishmawi’s plea bargain focus on her continuing to work at HWC, despite learning of Hanatsheh’s role in the August 2019 bombing. Additionally, she continued to work at the organization following Israel’s January 2020 terror designation.
  • The charge sheet, to which Rishmawi pled, also states:
    • HWC is “controlled by the PFLP” and was involved in “raising funds for the PFLP’s activities, financing PFLP activities and carrying out PFLP’s activities.” 
    • At least four individuals who served in financial positions at HWC (Hanatsheh, Sai’d Abidat, Amro Hamuda, Tayseer Abu Sharbak) are PFLP members. 
    • “The organization [HWC]’s revenues are usually based on donations from foreign countries, a limited number of local donations and revenues from the various services that the organization provides. The organization’s budget is about NIS 20 million per year.” 
    • “Most of the donations to the organization [HWC] come from Spain…The organization has also received donations from organizations and associations including from England, Denmark, Switzerland, Belgium and the European Union.” 
    • “Over the years and in the period beginning at least in 2006 to September 2019, the organization worked systematically to fraudulently receive donations from said countries in order to increase the organization’s revenues and thus fund the activity of the PFLP and strengthen the PFLP status in the region and its infrastructure.”

Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)

Samer Arbid – Financial director 

  • Arrest: September 2019
  • Status: Trial ongoing
  • According to Israeli security officials, on August 23, 2019, Samer Arbid commanded a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother.  According to the indictment, Arbid prepared and detonated the explosive device. According to the ISA, “Arbid prepared the explosive device and detonated it when he saw the Shnerb family approaching the spring.”
  • According to Arbid’s indictment, he was indicted on 21 counts in Israeli military court.  His alleged crimes include: 
    • Premeditated causing of death 
    • Planting an explosive 
    • Multiple counts of premeditated attempt to cause death.  These include involvement in shooting attacks against civilian buses and private vehicles, as well as the August 23, 2019 bomb attack in which Rena Schnerb was murdered. 
    • Illegal possession of weapons. 
    • Weapons trafficking. 
    • Membership in an illegal organization.
  • On August 30, 2020, the PFLP called Arbid a “prisoner and commander,” and “one of the heroes of the Bubeen operation” — referring to the August 2019 bombing.

Abdel Razzeq Farraj – Finance and Administration Director

  • Arrest: October 23, 2019
  • Status: Trial ongoing
  • Indicted on 4 counts in Israeli military court.  His alleged crimes include: 
    • Holding a position in an illegal organization. This allegedly included responsibility for recruiting new members into the PFLP. Under this count, the indictment notes that Samer Arbid informed Farraj about “attacks and attempted attacks” carried out by the terror cell that he led, as well as details pertaining to its weapons and explosives. 
    • Aiding an attempt to cause death in connection to the August 2019 bombing. 
    • According to his indictment, authorized the August  2019 bombing.

Bashir al-Khairi – Former president

Bisan 

Ubai Aboudi – Executive Director

  • Arrested: November 14, 2019
  • Status: Released in October 2020
  • Conviction: Aboudi “was convicted of being a member and an activist of the Popular Front organization during the period starting from 2016 and ending in July 2019.” Specifically, Aboudi “was responsible for recruiting additional activists to the organization from young people and students, as well as strengthening the organization's infrastructure in the area.” He was sentenced to 12 months in prison in June 2020.
  • Indictment: In the indictment of Abdel Razeq Farraj, Ubqi Aboudi is cited as being a PFLP member who was told to recruit more members to the organization.

Itiraf Hajaj (Rimawi) – Former Executive Director

Addameer

Khalida Jarrar – Former vice-chairperson

  • Arrest: October 31, 2019
  • Status: Released in September 2021
  • Indictment
  • Conviction: On March 1, 2021, Jarrar was sentenced to two years in prison for “holding office in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine from 2016 until her arrest in 2019.”
  • On December 18, 2019, the Jerusalem Post reported that Jarrar has “emerged as the head of the PFLP in the West Bank and responsible for all the organization’s activities.” 

Salah Hamouri – Lawyer

Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC)

Khitam Sa'afin – President

  • Arrest: November 2, 2020
  • Status: Released in May 2022
  • Conviction: As reported by the Times of Israel, in February 2022, Sa'afin was sentenced to 16 months in prison, after she was “convicted of membership in PFLP” “under a plea bargain that saw her admit to membership of in terror group but dropped the main charge against her of financing its operations.”

The EU and leading European countries have shown mixed reactions in response to Israel’s designation of six Palestinian NGOs in October 2021 – reflecting differing approaches in Europe over this issue. While some governmental bodies and officials have taken steps to safeguard funding from abuse by terror-linked actors, others have publicly criticized Israel’s actions, pledged to maintain support to these NGOs, or have otherwise sought to discredit Israeli anti-terror efforts.

European Commission

  • In December 2021, a parliamentary question in the European Parliament revealed that the European Commission had suspended its funding to Al-Haq and PCHR, pending the results of an investigation by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), and “instructed Oxfam to cut funding” to UAWC in light of Israeli allegations into the NGOs’ links to the PFLP.
  • On February 1, 2022, EU Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff attended a conference in Ramallah – convened by the terror-linked Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) – that included a workshop “focused on the strategies and mechanisms needed to combat counter-terrorism policies, regulations, and policies (sic).” At the event, von Burgsdorff referred to the designations, saying “with concern we have followed alarming incidents recently where human rights defenders, activists, and civil society organizations were subject to unprecedented violations whether in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, or Gaza. In this context, our position remains principled and unchanged: civil society is and will remain our partner as we promote together the human values and principles that we share.”
  • On June 30, 2022, Al-Haq and Al-Jazeera reported that the European Commission lifted its suspension of funds to Al-Haq and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR). However, these claims have not been publicly corroborated by EU officials.
  • In May 2022, the European Parliament approved the 2020 discharge report, “EU general budget – Commission and executive agencies,” one of the most important budgetary documents. The document clearly calls on the Commission to “make sure that individuals or groups affiliated, linked to or supporting terrorist organisations are excluded from Union funding” (emphasis added).

European governments

  • On January 21, 2022, European diplomats convened in Ramallah with representatives of “Palestinian civil society” to discuss the Israeli designations, as revealed by the Jerusalem Post in April. EU Representative Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff briefed the attendees on the designation of the NGOs, “reiterating the EU core belief that civil society is an essential part of a pluralistic and functioning democracy, particularly important in Palestine where the democratic processes are not in place... and civil society is constantly attacked by Israel.”
  • On July 12, 2022, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden published a joint statement, asserting “no substantial information was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards the six Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as 'terrorist organizations'... In the absence of such evidence, we will continue our cooperation and strong support for the civil society in the oPt.”

The Netherlands

  • On January 5, 2022, the Netherlands announced the cancellation of a contract with UAWC over ties to the PFLP. An independent investigation commissioned by the government reported that 34 UAWC employees in 2007-2020 had ties to the PFLP, some holding leadership positions in the terrorist group concurrent to their employment at UAWC. Notably, the Dutch investigation was not based on any classified intelligence, but rather on “verifiable information” only.  In the last decade, the Netherlands provided UAWC with approximately €20 million.
  • Additionally, on January 31, 2022, the Dutch representative to the UN in Geneva responded to a letter cosigned by several UN Human Rights Special Procedures Special Rapporteurs criticizing the “Decision of the Government of the Netherlands to end funding for the Union of Agricultural Work Committees,” saying, “as member of the European Union, the PFLP is considered a terrorist organization and not an regular political movement nor party. The strong findings about individual-level ties between the UAWC and the PFLP, and the UAWC’s lack of candour about the situation before or during the review, constitute serious concern and sufficient reason in the Government’s view to terminate its funding to the UAWC’s activities” (emphasis added).

Germany

  • On February 11, 2022, during a visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Israel, Israeli media reported that “the German and Israeli foreign ministries will jointly consider ways to continue funding projects in the territories without the money going to six Palestinian organizations that Israel outlawed as terrorist groups” (emphasis added).

France

  • In January 2022, the French ambassador to the UN declared, “in the absence of evidence to support the allegations of embezzlement and involvement in or support for terrorist activity, France will continue to support these organizations.”

Belgium

  • In July 2021, following a hurried and non-transparent internal review, Belgium Minister of Development Cooperation announced her refusal to open an independent investigation into the alleged diversion of Belgian development funds to the PFLP, claiming that there was no basis to proceed.

A number of European national and local governments, and other international donors have funded some of the newly designated terrorist organizations, through 2021-2023:

DCI-P

UAWC

Al-Haq

Addameer

UPWC

Bisan