In light of the outcome of the recent Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) elections, many international bodies hastened to announce their positions whereby political conditions were exerted on the newly elected government. Many international parties proceeded to implement practical measures relating to discontinuation of funding as a result of decisions to end assistance to the Palestinian Authority. Concurrently, the Israeli government took measures and halted transfers of Palestinian tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority.
We, the undersigned strongly condemn these arbitrary measures against the Palestinian Authority and people and wish to emphasize the following:
- The Palestinian elections, praised by the local and international community as democratic, fair and credible, have fairly expressed the will of the Palestinian people and their democratic choice. The election results should be acknowledged by the international community and likewise respect its outcome.
- The choice for political change is an internal Palestinian issue and any attempts to influence the process and its outcome are unacceptable and flatly rejected by the Palestinian people and our organizations and institutions.
- Foreign assistance in support of the Palestinian National Authority and its efforts to meet social, economic and security responsibilities of the Palestinian society is integral to the agreements reached and should not be seen as charity ; it represents obligations to which the international community has committed itself.
- The process of linking funding to political conditions and agendas falls outside the stipulations of international agreements, treaties, and legislation, constituting a dangerous infringement of international law and international humanitarian law. Moreover, it is considered a declaration of a boycott war against the Palestinian people without any legal form or justification.
- The halting of foreign funding to the Palestinian Authority will dangerously exacerbate the already deteriorating humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories caused by the continued Israeli occupation.
- Efforts by certain international bodies to use Palestinian NGOs to implement their political agendas and bypass the Palestinian Authority are rejected outright. We declare our respect to Palestinian law, to the independence of our civil institutions and confirm our commitment to the Palestinian national agenda.
- Palestinian NGOs affirm the principle of solidarity and cooperation with the various state sectors and the private sector in the framework of sustained, genuine development. Attempts to influence the civil sector to assume a governmental apparatus role is totally rejected. In this context, we emphasize our commitment to our well defined role and respect of the role of other sectors to provide services to the Palestinian society.
- Palestinian NGOs affirm their commitment to the publicly declared national position as expressed in the Cairo Declaration; we affirm our adherence to the Palestinian Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
- We call upon all bodies of the Palestinian government (executive, legislative and judicial) to work in unity and conformity to confront the restrictions that have been imposed, all of which will inevitably lead to political, social and economic devastation.
Palestinian NGOs call on all members of the governmental and civil society sectors to work together in combating the imposition of politically motivated restrictions on foreign assistance which will lead to further deterioration at the political, social and economic levels.
Finally we also call upon Palestinians and friends in the international community to continue to support the popular grassroots movement to resist the Israeli Separation Wall and Israeli settlements (colonies), to counter the Israeli government's plan to impose unilateral solutions and the international community's silent complicity all of which serve to preclude the possibility of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations’ Network (PNGO)
General Union of Charitable Societies
National Commission for NGOs
Civil Action Forum