Washington, D.C., September 28, 2021 — Today, the Charity & Security Network released a report—The Alarming Rise of Lawfare to Suppress Civil Society: The Case of Palestine and Israel—detailing a coordinated effort by politically motivated actors to silence and shut down the work of civil society organizations that support Palestinian rights and operate humanitarian, peacebuilding and other programs in Palestine.

In recent years, “lawfare,” a term broadly defined in the report as the abuse of laws and legal principles to harm or discredit political adversaries, has become a central strategy for this network, composed of lawyers and law firms, faux think tanks, disinformation groups, and the Israeli government. Many of these groups and their leaders have demonstrated support for the expansion of Israeli settlements in Palestine.

Lawfare encompasses a broad range of tactics, from litigation, to regulatory attacks such as those challenging the charitable status of organizations, to requests that governments investigate or prosecute particular groups. It also includes efforts to “deplatform” organizations, or deny them financial services and fundraising platforms by pressuring banks to cancel their accounts. The report contains a number of case studies, including lawfare campaigns waged against Defense for Children International – Palestine, The Carter Center, Oxfam, New Israel Fund, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and Islamic Relief Worldwide.

“Counterterrorism policies that emerged in reponse to the tragedy of 9/11 are being abused by this lawfare network in an effort to undermine organizations that work to provide humanitarian relief to Palestinians or support Palestinian human rights,” said Paul Carroll, Director of the Charity and Security Network. “This report offers solutions for ending that abuse. Congress can clarify the definition of ‘material support’ for terrorism and narrow its scope, courts can take steps to deter frivolous lawsuits, and the executive branch can hold these disinformation outfits to a higher standard of evidence before pursuing investigations. All of these steps are essential.”

“The findings in this report should alarm anyone who works in the fields of human rights, peacebuilding, or humanitarian aid,” said Kay Guinane, Senior Advisor at Charity & Security Network and author of the report. “They point to a concerted effort to undermine organizations whose legitimate work is viewed as an obstacle to the political projects of the attackers. The expansion of lawfare as a tactic to advance a range of political agendas threatens civil society organizations the world over.”

Read an executive summary of the report here.

Read the full report here.

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The Charity & Security Network is a resource and advocacy center working to promote and protect the ability of nonprofit organizations to carry out peacebuilding, humanitarian, and human rights missions and to advance national security frameworks that support rather than impede this work. Learn more about the Charity & Security Network’s work at www.CharityAndSecurity.org, and follow us on Twitter: @CharitySecurity.