Health Work Committees’ Ties to the PFLP Terror Group

Introduction

Founded in 1985, Health Work Committees (HWC) claims it “works in a Rights-Based Approach providing Health Services and building development models to all segments of the Palestinian Population particularly the poor and the marginalized; and, lobbying and advocating in support of favorable policies and legislations for the realization of free democratic society and its citizens enjoying their social rights.”¹

HWC is the West Bank and Jerusalem spinoff of Union of Health Workers Committees (UHWC), a Gaza-based NGO identified by Fatah as a PFLP “affiliate” and by USAID-engaged audit as “the PFLP’s health organization.”  According to HWC, “among the outcomes of the post-Oslo situation, as a result of the geopolitical situation, the Health Work Committees formed separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.”

HWC’s “sister organization” (as referred to by Viva Salud, one of its Belgian partners) in the West Bank and Jerusalem is the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC). HWC states that “among the outcomes of the post-Oslo situation, as a result of the geopolitical situation, the Health Work Committees formed separate administrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Each department has worked relatively independently to maintain a healthy political and developmental vision and action strategies that take the site’s privacy.”

HWC uses demonizing language, including accusing Israel of “genocide,” “a racist apartheid system,” “ethnic cleansing,”  “repeated targeting to the health center and its staff and patients,” and using “poisonous gas.” HWC is also a member of the “BDS secretariat” and “support[s] the international campaigns to boycott the occupation entity.”

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

Founded by George Habash in 1967, the PFLP is a secular Palestinian Marxist-Leninist organization, originally supported by the former Soviet Union and China. The PFLP is a terrorist organization, designated as such by the EU, the US, Canada, and Israel. The PFLP is involved in suicide bombings, shootings, and assassinations, among other terrorist activities targeting civilians, and was the first Palestinian organization to hijack airplanes in the 1960s and 1970s. 

The group was responsible for the assassination of Israeli Minister of Tourism Rechavam Ze’evi in 2001, and its members joined with the Baader-Meinhof Gang (a West German radical group) to hijack an Air France Tel Aviv-bound flight in 1976, landing it in Entebbe, Uganda. PFLP members took credit for the house invasion and murder of the Fogel family in 2011 and was responsible for the massacre at a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood in 2014 where four worshipers and an Israeli Druze police officer were murdered. The terror organization also praised its “comrades” for their role in the murder of Israeli Border Police office Hadas Malka, and wounding of four other Israelis in a June 16, 2017 attack in Jerusalem. In August 2019, a PFLP terror cell carried out a bombing against Israeli civilians, murdering 17-year-old Rina Shnerb, and injuring her father and brother.

The PFLP has never recognized the State of Israel, and opposes all negotiations with Israel, instead calling for the “liberation” of all of “historical Palestine,” regularly by means of terror. 

The PFLP, a longtime terror ally of Hamas in Gaza, participated in the atrocities of October 7, 2023. In fact, on its website and Telegram, the PFLP proudly shared videos, images, and text celebrating the massacre and the attacks against “occupation army troops and the herds of their settlers” in southern Israel. Reportedly, the PFLP was also involved in illegally holding Israeli hostages brought back to Gaza. For more information, read NGO Monitor’s report “PFLP Involvement in the October 7 Atrocities.” 

In addition to HWC, NGO Monitor has identified a broad network of Palestinian NGOs claiming to advance human rights or humanitarian interests that have links to the PFLP terror group.  These connections include current and former NGO board members, officials, and employees who served in the PFLP or spoken on its behalf at public events and taken part in PFLP forums.

Funding 

HWC’s terror affiliation is antithetical to human rights norms and principles. Due to its affiliation with the PFLP, the provision of funds to HWC is in likely violation of international, EU, and domestic terror financing and material support laws. The organization is therefore an inappropriate partner for governments and individuals seeking to further human rights in the region.

In January 2020, HWC vehemently opposed a new requirement in European Union grant contracts with Palestinian NGOs that prohibits grantees from working with and funding organizations and individuals designated on the EU’s terror lists.

In November 2022, HWC claimed that due to the Israeli terror designation, they had lost 35 of their 40 institutional donors.

• Health Work Committees (HWC) does not include any financial data, donor information, or sources of funding on its website, reflecting a complete lack of transparency and accountability.
• HWC’s past donors and partners include: Austria, European Union, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden,  Japan, NGO Development Center, Diakonia, DanChurchAid, ICCO (Netherlands), Medical Aid for Palestinian (MAP), SODePAZ, MIFTAH, Oxfam, and the United Nations.
  • In May 2021, Medical Aid for Palestinians ceased funding to HWC “following the allegations levied by the Israeli ministry of foreign affairs.”
• In 2022-2026, Belgium (Directorate-General for Development Cooperation; DGD) is providing HWC €340,000 for a project with Belgian NGO Viva Salud (formerly Médecine pour le Tiers Monde/ Geneeskunde voor de Derde Wereld). 
• In 2023, the Provincial Council of Málaga granted €14,613 to Al Quds and HWC for “Basic medical care in Tubas, Nablus and Qalqilya, through the provision and equipping of medical centres.”
• In 2021, HWC received €10,474 from the Municipality of Málaga for “Improved health and well-being of the vulnerable Palestinian population in the face of the COVID19 pandemic in marginal areas of northern West Bank: municipality of Tubas and surroundings.”
• In 2020, HWC received $305,504 from the UN OCHA occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund to “Increase Access to Essential Health Services for Marginalized Communities in Hebron.”
• In 2019-2020, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa provided HWC and Spanish NGO SODePAZ €40,000 for “Health Care for Sick People in Emergency Departments.”
• In 2017-2020, HWC received $3.7 million from Sweden.

HWC’S Organizational Ties to the PFLP

• On June 9, 2015, Israel designated (pg. 6489) HWC as an “unauthorised organisation.” According to Israel’s Defense Minister, “the group of people or institutions or association known as the ‘Union of Health Work Committees-Jerusalem’…or ‘Health Work Committees’…or any other name that this association will be known by, including all of its factions and any branch, center, committee or group of this association is an unauthorized association, as defined by the Defense Regulations” (emphasis added).
• In January 2020, HWC was designated by Israel as a terrorist organization.
• According to Israel, HWC implemented an elaborate scheme of “reporting fictitious projects, presenting false documents, forgery and inflating invoices and receipts… forging bank documents and bank seals,” and a variety of other methods of embezzlement. This was done in order to provide money for “the families of PFLP ‘martyrs,’ salaries of PFLP members, recruitment of new members, advancing terror activity,” amongst other purposes.
• In June 2021, the PFLP condemned Israeli “raids” of HWC’s offices, declaring that “the Zionist enemy, with its various security and intelligence services, continues its extensive war on the Popular Front, as it intensified in recent days its frantic arrest campaigns against the leaders and activists of the Front.”
• On July 7, 2021, Israel arrested HWC General Director Shatha Odeh for her alleged involvement in terror activity. Following her arrest, the IDF closed HWC’s offices for six months.
  • Odeh also serves as the head of the board of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO). Multiple PNGO officials have ties to terrorist organizations, and at least five PNGO members have ties to EU-designated terror organizations, including through their employees and/or board members who are directly involved in activities and programs.
• In May 2021, Israeli authorities announced that four officials from HWC had been arrested for terror related activities including diverting European aid to the PFLP terror group.  According to Israeli authorities, the “Popular Front organizations (PFLP-affiliated NGOs) deceived assistance organizations in Europe using various methods – reporting fictitious projects, transferring false documents, forging and inflating invoices, diverting tenders, forging bank documents and signatures, reporting inflated salaries, etc. The considerable financing that was received was transferred – inter alia – to payments for the families of Popular Front ‘martyrs’, salaries for militants, recruiting new members, advancing and strengthening terrorist activity, funding Popular Front militants in Jerusalem and the dissemination of Popular Front messages and ideology” (emphasis added).
• On May 6, 2021, the Israeli authorities announced the pending indictment of three current and one former HWC employees suspected of defrauding European countries of millions of euros by fabricating aid projects in order to channel funds to the PFLP and to support its terror activities.
  • The individuals arrested were HWC accountant, Tayseer Abu Sharbak; Said Abdat, who previously worked as an accountant for the HWC; Amro Hamouda, the former head of purchasing for the HWC; and Juanna Sanchez Rishmawi, who was responsible for fundraising for the organization in Europe.
• HWC’s Youth Development Program, “A community, cultural, and social development program that provide services to Jerusalemite youth through ‘Nidal Center’,” was shut down by Israeli authorities from 2009 to 2012 because, in the words of the Jerusalem District Court, it served as “a place of action of the [PFLP] organization.” The Nidal Center also housed HWC’s Kanan project, a program implemented by six political NGOs, five of which have reported ties to the PFLP.²
• In 2016, the Israeli High Court of Justice (HCJ-3923/15), stated that “based on credible information, the PFLP carried out activity in the apartment, under the aegis of an organization named the ‘Union of Health Work Committees-Jerusalem,’ which later was also declared a terrorist organization” (emphasis added).
• According to an article published by PFLP’s Al-Hadaf news outlet written by “a founding member of UHWC,” Mona El-Farra, “the Popular Committees for Health Services”  (the original name of UHWC) was “politically sponsored by the PFLP.”

HWC Staff with Ties to the PFLP

Numerous HWC staff members, founders, board members, general assembly members, and senior staff members have ties to the PFLP terror group.

Walid Hanatsheh

An October 2019 HWC article refers to Hanatseh as its “Financial and Administrative Director.” According to the website of the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO),³ in December 2019 he was listed as a member of the board of directors, under the name Waleed Abu Ras.

• Hanatsheh was allegedly the leader of PFLP terror operations. In this capacity, he is accused of commanding Samer Arbid (on file), who was indicted in 2019 in an Israeli military court for commanding a PFLP terror cell that carried out a bombing, murdering an Israeli civilian, and injuring her father and brother. According to an Israeli media report, Hanatsheh financed the bomb attack.
• The PFLP and its associated institutions have issued several statements in support of Hanatsheh, while identifying him as a PFLP operative:
  • On October 13, 2019, the PFLP issued a statement labeling Walid Hanatsheh as a “leader in the Popular Front.”
  • On August 23, 2022, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the attack, the PFLP’s student wing, the Democratic Progressive Student Pole (DPSP), commemorated the attack and praised Hanatsheh, referring to him as a “leader comrade” who “commanded the military operation in the Front.”
  • On January 27, 2020 the PFLP reported that “senior officials of the PFLP” participated in an event organized by the “The Prisoners Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” in Gaza. According to the PFLP’s account, “During the event, the participants raised pictures of the prisoner Hanatsheh, the prisoner Mays Abu Ghosh, the prisoner Samer Arbid, and all the prisoners who were arrested from the Popular Front recently” (emphasis added).
• Previously, according to Addameer, Hanatsheh was arrested and placed in administrative detention by Israel between May 2002- December 2005, January 2009- January 2010, and November 2011-August 2012.
• Hanatsheh appeared on the PFLP list for the scheduled May 2021 Palestinian Legislative Elections, which were postponed indefinitely.
• In May 2019, Hanatsheh attended a memorial event organized by the PFLP for PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who, according to information posted by the terror group, “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs, including Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), UAWC, and Addameer. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.
• In his answer to a 2012 parliamentary question at the Israeli Knesset, the Israeli Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai (Labor) referred to the HWC “finance manager” as “a senior activist in the PFLP terrorist organization… [Who] was involved prior to his arrest in activities that endanger the security of the region and the public.”
• In 2005, during Israeli High Court deliberations, Hanatsheh was defined as “a senior activist in the PFLP.” The Court further cites security sources indicating that “the status of the respondent [Hanatsheh] in the hierarchy and the risk that he will be integrated into a senior position in military activity in the PFLP is significant” [HCJ 6845/05] (emphasis added).
• Hanatsheh is listed as a board member for PNGO.

PFLP senior official Khalida Jarrar (right) standing next to Waleed Hanatsheh at HWC’s 2019 General Assembly (Source: Health Work Committees – Palestine, Facebook, August 4, 2019)

Shatha Odeh

• Previously, Odeh chaired the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network’s (PNGO) board in at least October 2018– November 2021. PNGO is an umbrella organization comprising 142 Palestinian NGO member organizations, many of which support BDS campaigns and have ties to the PFLP terror group. Multiple PNGO officials have ties to terrorist organizations, and at least five PNGO members have ties to EU-designated terror organizations, including through their employees and/or board members who are directly involved in activities and programs.
• On July 7, 2021, Israel arrested HWC General Director Shatha Odeh for her alleged involvement in terror activity. Following her arrest, the IDF closed HWC’s offices for six months.
• In May 2022, Odeh accepted a plea bargain, pleading guilty to crimes including holding a position in a banned organization, presence in the proceedings of a banned organization, and improperly transferring funds [into the West Bank] for her role in raising funds for the organization after it was declared a terrorist entity by the IDF in January 2020.  
• Odeh was sentenced to 16-months in prison and a 5-year suspended sentence, but was released in June 2022, after serving nearly a year in prison.
• In May 2019, Odeh attended a memorial event organized by the PFLP that centered on PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who, according to information posted by the PFLP, “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.
• In January 2020, in response to EU anti-terror legislation regarding funding contracts with NGOs, Odeh stated, “We disagree with the European Union on the list… which includes seven political organizations and classifies them as ‘terrorists’. For us, they are national liberation movements.” Odeh also stated: “the new conditions are interpreted as political pressure from the Israeli side.”

Shatha Odeh sitting in front of the PFLP banner detailing the identity of the “martyrs.” Source: https://www.wattan.net/ar/video/282626.html (17:00)

Juanna Sanchez Rishmawi

• In May 2021, Israel announced the arrest of Juanna Sanchez Rishmawi, a fundraiser for HWC since 1993, alongside three other HWC employees. 
• On November 10, 2021, Sanchez Rishmawi pled guilty to “carrying out services on behalf of a banned organization,” the PFLP.
• According to the indictment, Sanchez Rishmawi raised millions in donations from Spanish governmental and civil society bodies to HWC since 1993, significant portions of which were then diverted to the PFLP.

Daoud Ghoul

Ghoul previously served as HWC’s “director of youth programs.” HWC’s 2014 annual report refers to him as the “director of the development projects and programs in Jerusalem.”⁴ 

• Daoud Ghoul also worked in HWC’s Nidal Center (see above) in “managerial positions at the Nidal Center and in the [HWC] association.” 
• In 2016, Ghoul was convicted for his membership in the PFLP and was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment.
  • According to a Jerusalem District Court verdict [67637-03-16], “at a date prior to 2006, the appellant [Daoud Ghoul] joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organization, worked in management positions at the Nidal Centre, a place of activity for the organization [PFLP], and in the Union of Health Work Committees-Jerusalem [Health Work Committees]…the framework under which the organization [PFLP] began to operate after the Nidal Centre was closed in 2009. In that capacity, the appellant organized – among other things- trips, extra-curricular activities and summer camps for youth- some of which were named for terrorists that were active in the organization- and organized visits to the families of fallen and incarcerated members of the organization” (emphasis added).

Dr. Ahmad Maslamani

According to the PFLP, Dr. Ahmad Maslamani was co-founder and director of the Health Work Committees in the West Bank until his death in 2008.

• According to a 2014 article on the PFLP’s website, Maslamani was a PFLP “Central Committee member” until his death. He “helped to establish the organization of the party [PFLP] in the city of Jerusalem…In addition, he founded a school where prisoners from the Popular Front are studying.” 
• According to a January 2013 PFLP article “Five years on: Remembering Comrade Dr. Ahmad Maslamani, struggler and healer of the Palestinian people,” “Comrade Ahmad was arrested by the occupation forces on numerous occasions, spending a total of seven years in Israeli detention and prisons.” The PFLP article also features a note about Maslamani’s death written by HWC’s board of directors. 
• According to a 2001 article in Haaretz, Israel security force arrested Maslamani and two other PFLP members. According to the article, Maslamani “helped organizing and recruiting activists to the Popular Front [PFLP]. The two [Maslamani and another PFLP member] were responsible for a long series of terrorist attacks carried out by Popular Front [PFLP] operatives in Jerusalem.” 
• In 2002, Maslamani was convicted by an Israeli court “on the basis of his confession of the offense of membership in a terrorist organization.” He served nine months in jail.

Maslamani portrait published during the 2018 HWC general assembly. Source: Health Work Committees – Palestine, Facebook

PFLP mourning Maslamani. Source: PFLP, “Comrade Dr. Ahmad Maslamani: 6 years on the passing of a fighter and healer,” January 2014

Hassan Abed Al-Jawad

Hassan Abed Al-Jawad served as an HWC board member in 2014–2016.

• The PFLP referred to Al-Jawad as a “comrade.” 
• Palestinian media describes him as “a leader of the Popular Front [PFLP] in Bethlehem” and a “comrade.” 
• Al-Jawad also served as a DCI-P board member in 2012–2018. DCI-P similarly has close ties to the PFLP terror group (see NGO Monitor’s report). 
• In 2018, spoke at a PFLP event commemorating a PFLP member. According to Al Quds, Al-Jawad spoke “on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in which he said goodbye to the late fighter Farraj.”  
• In 2016, Al-Jawad “spoke on behalf of the PFLP” at an event commemorating a PFLP member who was killed “while engaging in a demonstration confronting the occupation forces with stones and Molotov cocktails.”
• In a 2008 article in Palestinian media, Al-Jawad is referred to as “a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” in Bethlehem. In addition, a book published in 2005 titled The Palestinian National Movement refers to Abed al-Jawad as “a PFLP activist in Bethlehem.” 

Al-Jawad speaking on behalf of the PFLP (2016). Source: PFLP, “The Popular Front in Dhesheh Camp marks the First Anniversary of Martyr,” October 13, 2016:

Dr. Majed Nassar

Dr. Majed Nassar previously served as HWC’s Executive Director and Deputy Director.

• The British paper the Independent referred to him as a PFLP member. 
• Nassar is also a former board member of the PFLP linked NGO DCI-P in at least 2007–2009. 
• According to a 2007 document edited by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Jerusalem, Israel has prevented Dr. Majed Nassar from traveling “since 2001,” a decision upheld by the High Court. 
• Nasser co-wrote The Palestinian Intifada: Cry Freedom, a book that praises the Palestinian terror campaign of the early 2000s.
  • “The Palestinian resistance movement has therefore concluded that every checkpoint, every soldier and every settler are legitimate targets in the struggle for freedom and independence, thus rendering all theories and strategies of supremacy irrelevant. In essence then, everything becomes a target: Jerusalem, Haifa, Hadera, Tel Aviv, Ashkelon, the settlements, the checkpoints, the military installations and even the Israeli Ministry of Defense” (page 94).
  • “No Palestinian accepts that the political parties that have struggled over the last fifty years should be regarded as ‘terrorist organizations,’ simply because their cause of liberation is anathema to the United States and its stepchild, Israel” (page 117) .

Ismat Shakhshir

Ismat Shakhshir is reported to be a former HWC “member of the director committee.”⁵ She also attended the 2018 HWC general assembly. 

• Shakhshir ran “for the PLC [Palestinian Legislative Council] seat at the 2006 election representing the PFLP but did not pass.”
• Shakhshir is also a member⁶ / official⁷ of the PFLP “affiliate” Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees (UPWC).
• According to an “All 4 Palestine” article, she is also a board member of the Union of Health Work Committees, an organization with ties to the PFLP. 
• In 2019, Shakhshir participated in a ceremony co-organized by UPWC and the Progressive Student Action Front, “the student organization of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” in honor of the International Women’s Day.
  • The banner for the ceremony featured logos of UPWC, the Progressive Student Action Front, and the PFLP terrorist and plane hijacker Leila Khaled.

Photo of Ismat Shakhshir during the ceremony in honor of the International Women’s Day. (Source: PFLP, “The Student Action Front and the Union of Women’s Committees honor the active and successful student,” March 11, 2019)

• In 2017, Shakhshir participated in a workshop, “The boycott of Israeli goods and its impact on the normalization,” co-organized by UPWC and the Progressive Student Action Front.
• In 2015, Shakhshir participated in a seminar “Detention experiences and human rights during detention, interrogation and trial” co-organized by UPWC, the Progressive Student Action Front, and Addameer – an organization identified by Fatah as an official PFLP “affiliate.”

UPWC and Progressive Student Action Front Ceremony with banner of Leila Khaled (Source: PFLP, “The Student Action Front and the Union of Women’s Committees honor the active and successful student,” March 11, 2019)

Photo of Ismat Shakhshir during a workshop “Detention experiences and human rights during detention, interrogation and trial” (Source: Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Facebook, April 21, 2015)

Yousef Habash

Reportedly HWC’s “European representative,” until at least 2015.⁸

• Israel prevented Habash from leaving the West Bank in 2011-2012. 
• A 2011 BDS National Committee statement includes him as a member of the group.
• According to the PFLP, Habash participated in the “World Social Forum” in Tunisia in March 2015 and is a member of the “Forum’s international coordinating committee and a representative of the Palestinian national committee for the Forum.”⁹
• Habash is apparently the nephew of PFLP founder George Habash.
• In 2001, an article posted on the Palestinian NGO Miftah’s website, written by the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), an umbrella organization of Palestinian NGOs that is itself linked to Palestinian terrorist organizations, includes Habash in a list of “PFLP members (or ex-associates of the PFLP)” arrested by the PA Palestinian National Authority following the 2001 assassination of the Israeli Minister Rehavam Ze’evi by the PFLP.
• Habash was also reportedly HWC’s “European representative,” until at least 2015.¹⁰
• On December 11, 2020, Habash shared on Facebook a poster of PFLP Founder George Habash and a video honoring the PFLP’s establishment. Habash wrote, “On every anniversary of the establishment the promise of the idea is renewed….the establishment is not only an occasion but a confirmation of a path that started 52 years ago and continues to the heroes of Ein Bubin…” (referring to PFLP-planned 2019 bombing in which 17-year-old Rina Shnerb was murdered).
• On August 1, 2020, Habash shared on Facebook Palestinian magazine Al-Hadaf’s cover page featuring George Habash and wrote, “Peace be upon your birthday. Peace be upon you and your spirit which hovers over Palestine from the river to the sea…it reaffirms, despite the betrayal and the failure, that the only way to Palestine is with the gun. We miss you, our doctor, father and teacher.”
• On May 6, 2019, Habash shared on Facebook a picture of former PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, and wrote, “Today passed away the man who shaped in his work one of the pages of the national civilian and societal struggle. Abu Marwan [Muhanna’s alias] now joins his comrades and brothers…You will remain, and your work and donation will remain.”

Habash shared a picture of former PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna and wrote a eulogy for him.

• On January 26, 2018, Habash shared on Facebook a poster of George Habash and pictures showing his participation in the funeral of the latter. The poster quotes George Habash, “I swear by the orange of Jaffa and the memories of the refugees, we will hold accountable those who sold our land and those who bought us.” Habash wrote, “On the anniversary of the teacher’s passing…May your spirit have glory, we remain faithful to the promise, you represented Palestine with your personality…Your teachings and you remain within us as long as we live.”
• On January 25, 2013, Habash shared on Facebook a video hailing PFLP leadership and wrote, “You remain within us. The heart of Palestine.”

Habash shared on Facebook a video hailing PFLP leadership.

Tayseer Abu Sharbak

• According to a May 6, 2021 article in the Times of Israel, Tayseer Abu Sharbak served as HWC’s accountant, beginning around 2009.
• According to his April 2022 conviction, Abu Sharbak “was involved in money laundering, falsification of documents and using those funds for PFLP activities” (on file with NGO Monitor).
• He was convicted of membership in an illegal organization and was sentenced to 16-months in prison.
• According to his May 2021 indictment in Israeli military court, he began working as an accountant for HWC around 2009 after being recruited by Walid Hanatsheh (on file with NGO Monitor). As part of his role, he was responsible for the NGO’s annual balance sheet, the financial cycle, and the deposit and withdrawal of funds from the NGO’s bank accounts. 
• According to HWC, he was released in June 2022.

Said Abdat

• According to his indictment, Said Abdat served as HWC’s accountant from 2001-2019 (on file with NGO Monitor).
• Abdat was arrested in May 2021 for membership and activity in an illegal organization – the PFLP – and holding a position in an illegal organization. In this context, the indictment describes his alleged actions to forge documents and present fictitious information regarding humanitarian activities in order to obtain funds from international donors, primarily in Spain.

Amro Hamouda

• According to a May 6, 2021 article published in the Times of Israel, Amro Hamouda served as HWC’s head of purchasing in 1998-2019 (on file with NGO Monitor).
• Hamouda was arrested in May 2021. According to his April 2022 conviction, Hamouda “joined the organization [HWC] in 1998 with the knowledge that the organization belongs to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine” (on file with NGO Monitor). He was convicted of membership in a banned organization and received a 26-month prison sentence. According to his indictment, Hamouda is accused of holding a position in an illegal organization – the PFLP. In this context, the indictment describes his alleged manipulation of financial records and documents, and presentation of fictitious information regarding humanitarian activities, in order to obtain funds from international donors, primarily in Spain.

Shawan Jabarin

• In September 2023, Maan News Agency reported that Shawan Jabarin was elected to HWC’s board of directors.
• Al-Haq’s General Director Shawan Jabarin is linked to the PFLP. According to the Israeli Supreme court, Jabarin “is apparently acting as a manner of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde, acting some of the time as the CEO of a human rights organization, and at other times as an activist in a terror organization.”
• Jabarin was convicted in 1985 for recruiting and arranging training for members for the PFLP. A 1994 Israeli statement to the UN notes that he “had not discontinued his terrorist involvement and maintains his position in the leadership of the PFLP.”
• In July 2021, Jabarin attended an event in memory of Suha Jarrar, daughter of PFLP leader Khalida Jarrar and an Environmental and Gender Policy Researcher at Al-Haq. The hall was decorated with PFLP logos.
• In May 2019, Shawan Jabarin attended a memorial event organized by the PFLP. It centered on PFLP political bureau member Rabah Muhanna, who, according to information posted by the PFLP, “contributed to the establishment” of several PFLP-affiliated NGOs. The hall was decorated with PFLP paraphernalia.