The Palestinian Authority Campaign Against Palestinian NGOs

In this mailing: - Khaled Abu Toameh: The Palestinian Authority Campaign Against Palestinian NGOs - Con Coughlin: China Has No Interest in Climate Change [] [The Palestinian Authority Campaign Against Palestinian NGOs]( by Khaled Abu Toameh • November 4, 2021 at 5:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [WhatsApp]( [Telegram]( [Send]( [Print]( - The six Palestinian NGOs were classified by Israel as terrorist organizations because of their affiliation with the PLO's Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by both the United States and the European Union. - The PFLP, which has carried out many attacks against Israelis, including civilians, is one of 11 groups that form the PLO, headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Each group receives monthly allocations of up to $70,000 from the PLO's unofficial finance ministry. - Yet while Israel has come under attack for its move against the six NGOs, there is almost no mention that the Palestinian Authority (PA), which joined the bandwagon of anti-Israel criticism, has also been targeting Palestinian NGOs for quite some time. - [T]he PA has been targeting hundreds of Palestinian NGOs... as part of an effort to control them and take their funds. Unlike Israel, the PA is not targeting the NGOs because of their affiliation with terrorism. Many of the NGOs have been critical of the PA leadership: that is why Abbas wants to silence them. - Al-Haq, one of the six organizations labeled by Israel as a terrorist organization... pointed out that this was not the first time the PA leadership had targeted Palestinian NGOs. - When Al-Haq complained about the PA decree targeting Palestinian NGOs, the mainstream media in the West, as well as several human rights organizations self-righteously chose to look the other way.... The international community did not demand clarifications from the PA leadership about his "assault" on Palestinian NGOs. - Palestinian legal expert Majed al-Arouri.... said that more than 20,000 Palestinian employees would lose their jobs as a result of the restrictions imposed by the PA on the work of Palestinian NGOs and charitable organizations. - As far as many in the international community are concerned, it is fine if Abbas takes punitive measures against the PFLP, but it is outrageous if Israel does it. - Those who are ignoring Abbas's crackdown on the Palestinian NGOs are depriving the Palestinians of democracy and freedom of speech. - The international community's obsession with Israel... proves that it is more interested in condemning and delegitimizing Israel than improving the status of human rights and democracy under the PA. Six Palestinian NGOs were recently classified by Israel as terrorist organizations because of their affiliation with the PLO's Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by both the United States and the European Union. Pictured: PFLP terrorists aim their weapons at an effigy depicting then US President Donald Trump in Gaza City, on May 23, 2017. (Photo credit should read Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images) Israel's recent decision to designate six Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as terrorist organizations sparked a wave of protests and condemnations from many parties around the world, including human rights groups and political activists. Israel is being accused of cracking down on Palestinian civil society organizations not because of their affiliation with a terrorist group, but because of their political activities, which are often not that different. The six Palestinian NGOs were classified by Israel as terrorist organizations because of their affiliation with the PLO's Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by both the United States and the European Union. [Continue Reading Article]( [] [China Has No Interest in Climate Change]( by Con Coughlin • November 4, 2021 at 4:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [WhatsApp]( [Telegram]( [Send]( [Print]( - Beijing remains committed to opening hundreds more coal-fired power plants in the coming years, with the result that China's new coal plants will more than offset all the closures of other coal-fired stations that have taken place in the rest of the world during the past year. - Beijing's unwillingness to make any significant contribution to attempts at the COP26 conference to reduce global emissions has raised legitimate concerns that China is seeking to gain an economic advantage over its Western rivals as they struggle with the challenge of meeting net zero targets. - There is a growing body opinion on both sides of the Atlantic that dramatic reductions in carbon omission could wreak economic havoc for Western economies if the pursuit of "green" economies is pursued at the expense of maintaining energy supplies. In Europe, for example, the race to abandon traditional fossil fuels as a major source of energy has led to increased reliance on energy supplies from Russia through its controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline. - Mr Xi's refusal to engage seriously with the COP26 climate change agenda also makes a mockery of the Biden administration's contention that the best way to improve Beijing's conduct is through deeper diplomatic cooperation. - Beijing's main motivation is to undermine Western capitalism, not support it, which is why he has no intention of supporting the West's ill-considered dash for net zero carbon emissions. Beijing's unwillingness to make any significant contribution to attempts at the COP26 conference to reduce global emissions has raised legitimate concerns that China is seeking to gain an economic advantage over its Western rivals as they struggle with the challenge of meeting net zero targets. Pictured: National finance leaders pose for a group photograph at the COP26 meeting on November 3, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Photo by Steve Reigate-WPA Pool/Getty Images) Nothing better summarises Chinese President Xi Jinping's attitude to the West's obsession with tackling climate change than the old Chinese saying, "Hide a knife behind a smile." As world leaders gathered for the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Western leaders were desperately trying to reach a deal on cutting carbon emissions, which United Nations climate experts claim is a major cause of climate change. There was no shortage of dire predictions in the run-up to the summit, with John Kerry, President Biden's climate envoy, warning that this is the world's "last best chance" to stop a climate catastrophe and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson talking in apocalyptic terms about the world's failure to tackle the issue placing modern civilisation at risk. 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