WhatsappRegavim investigation reveals: Who is behind a new program for Palestinian students living in Area C and which foreign countries are involved? “The State of Israel continues to turn a blind eye to the overt activity of a terrorist organization.”
A recent expose’ by the Intelligence Division of the Regavim Movement, which monitors the activities of the Palestinian Authority and foreign organizations in Area C, reveals that the “Union of Agricultural Work Committees” (UAWC), officially designated as a terrorist organization by Defense Minister Gantz, is running a “student exchange program for Palestinian students” in cooperation with academic institutions in France and Great Britain.
The UAWC was declared a terrorist organization by the Ministry of Defense in 2021 after the close connection between the organization’s activities and terrorist activity, including the murder of Rana Shnerb in the summer of 2019, was exposed. In the formal announcement of the UAWC’s designation as a PFLP-affiliated terrorist organization, the Ministry of Defense proved that UAWC serves as a conduit for the flow of millions of Euros to its parent organization, the Marxist terrorist organization founded by George Habash that has perpetrated murder and mayhem against Israelis, diaspora Jews and others over several decades. The UAWC is one of a group of PFLP offshoots that pose as civil society organizations as they battle against the existence of the State of Israel and support the illegal Palestinian Authority annexation of Area C.
The newly-exposed international student exchange program claims to “strengthen young people in relation to agricultural and environmental activities.” The program, scheduled for this coming July, includes visits to Marseille, Berlin and Hebron. In the admission conditions, it is stated, among other things, that priority will be given to residents of Area C.
At the end of last week, the Regavim Movement sent a letter to the Minister of Defense and the Israel Defense Forces demanding steps to immediately halt the program, as well as decisive action against the ongoing operation and activities of the UAWC, particularly those involving foreign governments and other actors. MK Sharren Haskel (National Unity Party – HaMahane HaMamlakhti) submitted a query to the Minister of Defense asking why a terrorist organization is allowed to operate freely.
“The designation of a terrorist organization must not remain merely a declaration,” says Avraham Binyamin, Director of Regavim’s Policy and Parliamentary Affairs Division. “We were surprised to discover, in the course of ongoing intelligence research, that the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, a designated terrorist organization, continues its operations openly among Palestinian students and in cooperation with foreign countries. The Israeli government’s failure to act against the activities of this terrorist organization constitutes abandonment of territory under Israeli jurisdiction. Israel must act immediately to block the UAWC’s ability to operate on the local and international stage to spread its terrorist agenda, and to cut off the UAWC’s ability to maintain international contacts that funnel European money to the PFLP. We demand that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summon the ambassadors of France and Germany and condemn their cooperation with the UAWC in particular and their involvement in illegal activity in areas C in general.”
