Agencies-Gaza post
EU: No justification for stopping Palestinian institutions support
Representative of the European Union to Palestine, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, stressed on Thursday evening that the support provided by the European Union to partner Palestinian institutions will not stop.
During a solidarity visit by a number of consuls and representatives of diplomatic missions in Palestine, to the headquarters of the Al-Haq Foundation in Ramallah, denouncing the closure of the institution’s headquarters along with six other human rights and civil institutions, and the seizure of some of its contents.
Burgsdorff said, “There is no reason for the The release for not continuing to cooperate with our partners with whom we have long-standing relations, and who have been designated as terrorist organizations by the IDF and military leaders.”
The representative of the European Union stressed that Israel’s previous allegations regarding the connection of the targeted Palestinian institutions with “terrorist organizations” or their association with the misuse of funds have not been substantiated.
He expressed solidarity with the institutions affected by the closure decisions by the occupation authorities, and praised the professionalism and efficiency of their employees.
Burgsdorff said, “The support that we have been providing for years has had an impact on enabling Palestinian civil society to provide services to the needy, and work to hold all parties accountable, including Israel as the occupying power,” noting that this support is indispensable for the promotion of human rights in Palestine.
Regarding the solidarity visit, the representative of the European Union explained that it is intended to meet with the directors of the seven institutions that were closed by the Israeli occupation authorities in the morning, in order to find out what happened, and to send reports on this as soon as possible to the capitals whose representatives attended the meeting.
Diplomats from 16 countries participated in the solidarity visit: Denmark, Spain, Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, Britain, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Chile and Mexico, in addition to the European Union delegation.
