Logo of the Palestinian NGO Al Haq. Photo: Facebook screenshot.

The Palestinian NGO Al Haq, which has recently been named as a recipient of the prestigious 2018 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic, serves as “the political and legal wing” of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist group, an Israeli expert told The Algemeiner on Thursday.

The award, bestowed by the French prime minister and presented by its justice minister, was given jointly to Al Haq and the far-left Israeli NGO B’Tselem. According to a statement from the latter group, this year the award was specifically given to organizations seen as “harassed or pressured” as a result of their work.

Al Haq’s director, Shawan Jabarin, has extensive ties with the PFLP and was previously convicted of recruiting for the terror group. In 2009, the Israeli Supreme Court found that Jabarin’s involvement with terrorism had continued.

According to Gerald Steinberg of the watchdog NGO Monitor, Al Haq is, in fact, little more than a tool for the PFLP to use against Israel. “As the core of the PFLP ‘human rights’ network,” he said, “Al Haq is the leader of the campaign to label Israeli defensive actions against terrorists as ‘war crimes.’ They are the political and legal wing of the terror organization.”

“Jabarin is not the PFLP’s only Al Haq operative,” Steinberg added. “Indeed, the evidence reflects a close connection between the terror group and the ‘human rights’ NGO.”

In a statement, B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad said, “It is a particularly special honor to receive this award — together with our colleagues from Al-Haq — on the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We, at B’Tselem and Al-Haq, share the same values and the same realization: that only by ending the occupation can there be a future based on human rights, equality and liberty.”

For his part, Jabarin said, “It is a great honor for Al-Haq to receive this prestigious award jointly with our colleagues at B’Tselem, who are our partners in the struggle for justice and a better future free from oppression and occupation. Together, we are working to end the culture of impunity so that Palestinians can enjoy the full realization of their human rights.”

Steinberg does not see El-Ad’s statement as surprising. El-Ad, he said, “is a one dimensional fanatic for whom any and all means justify the end. For him, Al Haq is an ideological ally, and he simply denies the terror links. In addition, the two NGOs often receive funds through the same European government NGO frameworks.”

Asked whether the French government was aware of these facts, Steinberg said, “It is unlikely that the Justice Minister, who is scheduled to present the award, has any information on Al Haq or B’Tselem. The organization that selects the NGOs for the prize has a history of promoting similar radical pro-Palestinian groups. This is more a matter of manipulation and due diligence failure than making a political point.”

In response to the news of the award, Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev tweeted, “This is not a prize — it is a libel and an official stamp on the fact that the actions of B’Tselem are anti-Israel.” B’Tselem, she said, “has long since become a Trojan horse against the State of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF.”

Deputy Minister Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the US, also condemned the award, saying, “France gives its highest award to B’Tselem and al-Haq organizations that accuse Israel of apartheid, delegitimize us internationally, defend terror, and support BDS. The same France cannot claim that it fights antisemitism.”

Meyer Habib, a French member of parliament and strong Israel supporter, asked, “How can a human rights prize be awarded to organizations that treat terrorists as freedom fighters? How do human rights values ​​coexist with the ceaseless activity of these organizations to boycott the State of Israel? Why is there no reference to the human rights of Israelis who have suffered from endless terror?”

“Today’s prize pushes away peace and sets the mark of Cain on the forehead of the French Republic,” he asserted.