UK Charities and Advocacy Groups Condemn Israeli Entry Ban Threats Following Trade Sanctions

A collective of British charities, Palestinian advocacy groups, and campaign organizations have strongly condemned an official Israeli document that maligns their personnel and recommends barring them from entering Israel. According to reports and documents seen by Al Jazeera, the letter was issued by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism and targets employees and activists associated with several prominent humanitarian and political groups.

The targeted entities named in the document include major aid organizations such as Oxfam, Islamic Relief Worldwide, Save the Children, Medical Aid for Palestinians, and the Norwegian Refugee Council, which receives UK funding. Also included are campaign groups like the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, and the proscribed Palestine Action network. The document was dated September 8, which coincided with the UK government's decision to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Ismail Patel, the founder of Friends of Al-Aqsa, which openly advocates for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, is specifically accused in the letter of participating in anti-Israel demonstrations in London and making critical public statements. Responding to the development, Patel stated that learning Israel plans to ban his organization indicates that the BDS campaign is successfully impacting Israel, adding that the restrictions will fail to intimidate them. Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry did not respond to requests for comment from Al Jazeera regarding the letter.

The issuance of the letter follows warnings from Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs concerning potential consequences for what it termed hostile moves by the UK, specifically pointing to the new trade sanctions targeting illegal settlements. Shortly after the trade ban was announced, Israel implemented a series of retaliatory measures. These included barring 11 British members of parliament and a lawyer from entering the country, ordering the closure of the British consulate in Jerusalem, removing British representatives from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat, and ending British training of Palestinian Authority forces in the occupied West Bank.

The leaked Diaspora Affairs Ministry letter explicitly connects these diplomatic tensions to the activities of British organizations. It states that attention should be directed toward the ongoing and subversive activities of various British entities promoting boycotts, sanctions, and economic and political measures against the State of Israel. Across the 11 groups targeted, the document levies various accusations, ranging from advocating for engagement with Hamas to secure humanitarian access and demanding arms embargoes, to alleging ties to the Muslim Brotherhood or working alongside organizations labeled as terrorist groups by Israel.

Specific claims were also directed at Save the Children for describing Israeli actions in Gaza using terms like deliberate starvation and genocide. A spokesperson for Save the Children told Al Jazeera that the organization, alongside other non-governmental organizations, is already struggling to secure visas for staff needing to cross Israeli-controlled borders into Gaza and the West Bank at a time when humanitarian needs are exceptionally high. Israel has intensified restrictions on international aid groups throughout the war in Gaza, impacting the entry of essential food, medicine, foreign volunteer doctors, and humanitarian personnel.

Medical Aid for Palestinians noted that the ministerial letter forms part of wider ongoing restrictions enforced by Israeli authorities against international charities operating within the occupied Palestinian territory. The organization also highlighted that two of its individuals named in the document had previously been awarded humanitarian medals by King Charles. Meanwhile, the letter characterizes Palestine Action, a group known for carrying out direct actions and raids against Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, as a network of radical branches aimed at damaging the Israeli defense industry.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori responded to the letter by stating that it serves as proof the group was not targeted due to terrorism, emphasizing that their activities have consistently focused on disrupting the Israeli defense industry. In a related development reported by The Telegraph, the lobby group UK Lawyers for Israel has urged the British government to consider proscribing Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, as a terrorist organization. The lobby group alleged that MSF employed individuals with links to Palestinian armed groups, echoing similar Israeli accusations.

In response, MSF stated that it has been subjected to a disinformation campaign for months. The organization clarified that staff members accused by Israel of having ties to terrorism were only reported to MSF after they had been killed, and noted that Israeli authorities had failed to share any concrete evidence of military involvement prior to their deaths.