Israeli troops raid Peoples Party offices

Israeli troops raided the headquarters of the secretary general of the Palestinian People’s Party in Ramallah on Friday evening, May 9. The Israeli troops searched the headquarters and confiscated a large number of files and documents belonging to the Party and Sawt al-Watan magazine, published by the People’s Party.

According to reporters working for Sawt al-Watan as well as Palestinian security sources, the headquarters of the Party and the offices of the magazine were ransacked by Israeli troops, who raided the building where the offices are located at 11:30 p.m. on Friday evening. Friday is the official day off for Palestinians.

The Palestinian People’s Party is an extension of the Communist movement in Palestine that was formed in the mid-1920s and continues to be active in ending the Israeli occupation, struggling for a Palestinian state and national sovereignty for the Palestinian people.

The Israeli raid resulted in ransacking and rampaging of the offices and of confiscating computers’ hard disks, hard and electronic files belonging to the Party and Sawt al-Watan.

The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW) – sent out a statement strongly condemning the Israeli forces’ raid on the offices of the People’s Party and Sawt al-Watan magazine. The statement said LAW holds the Israeli government accountable for the deterioration of the situation in the Palestinian territories. LAW called “upon the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention to provide protection for the Palestinian civilians and to put an end to Israel’s blatant human rights violations in the Palestinian territories.”

Israeli forces also raided the office of the International Solidarity Movement on Friday evening, May 9, where approximately 20 military vehicles, army jeeps and a large armored personnel surrounded the ISM media office in Beit Sahour. Computers and files were all pillaged, while soldiers broke equipment and damaged office space. Israeli forces kidnapped three volunteers.

The Israeli government has opened a new front against international peace and human rights workers, doing everything in their power to specifically prevent the nonviolent resistance to its military rule.

You can protest these raids by contacting your congressperson, the State Department and the White House. The State Department’s phone number is (202) 647-5150.