View source for Bisan Center for Research and Development

{{short description|Palestinian non-profit organization}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                = Bisan Center for Research and Development
| type                = [[Non-profit organization|Non-profit]]
| founded_date        = {{start date and age|1989|df=y}}
| image               = Bisan Center logo red and black.jpg
| location            =
| key_people          =
| area_served         = [[State of Palestine|Palestine]]
| focus               = Funding cultural programmes with the aim of preserving Palestinian identity and civil society
| subsid              =
| homepage            = [http://www.bisan.org/about/ bisan.org]
| footnotes           =
}}
The '''Bisan Center for Research and Development''' is a civil society non-profit, non-governmental organization in Ramallah, [[State of Palestine|Palestine]].<ref name=Reh02>{{cite book |title=Women, War and Peace |url=https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/3F71081FF391653DC1256C69003170E9-unicef-WomenWarPeace.pdf |publisher= UN FPA |first1=Elisabeth |last1=Rehn |first2=Ellen Johnson |last2=Sirleaf |date=2002 |pages=15 |isbn=0-912917-66-0}}</ref> It was established in 1989 and is registered with the Palestinian Ministry of Interior.<ref name=bisan>{{cite web|url=http://www.bisan.org/about/|title=About Bisan Center|website=bisan.org}}</ref>
Bisan works to support Palestinian women through youth organizations, feminist institutions, and community-based organization in marginalized and rural areas in Palestine, including through cultural initiatives encouraging the participation of youth and women.<ref name=bisan/> The Bisan Centre also runs a hotline on domestic violence.<ref name=Reh02/>
In 1990, with funding from Austcare, Bisan founded 22 community centers in the West Bank offering  vocational  training. At the time, they were also running a center for small scale enterprise and development in Nablus.<ref name=unesco>{{cite report|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000134105 |title=In support of Palestinian women |last=Powers |first=Janet M. date2003 |pages=26}}</ref> It also has a legislative unit that lobbies for effective civil legislation, and has historically worked with the Ministry of Health on research studies, including on domestic abuse in the West Bank and Gaza.<ref name=unesco/>
The organization has also previously partnered with [[UNIFEM]] on hosting women's conferences,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bf38U9NZ5VoC |title=Muslim Women and Politics of Participation: Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East |first=Mahnaz |last=Afkhami |publisher=Syracuse University Press |date=1997 |pages=173–174 |isbn=9780815627609}}</ref> including outside of Palestine, for example in Iraq, where it held a civic education workshop on behalf of UNIFEM with the Iraqi Al-Amal Association to train women in women's rights advocacy campaigning.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://mptf.undp.org/document/download/700 |title=Women's Solidarity Towards Active Participation in Elections (IRAQIA) (final project report) |publisher=UNIFEM |date=2007 |pages=12}}</ref>
In October 2021, Bisan was designated a terrorist organization by Israel, together with five other Palestinian non-profit, non-governmental organizations ([[Addameer]], [[Al-Haq]], [[Defence for Children International]] – Palestine, the [[Union of Palestinian Women's Committees]] and the [[Union of Agricultural Work Committees]]).<ref> https://nbctf.mod.gov.il/en/Pages/211021EN.aspx</ref> The designation was condemned by Amnesty International, the [[Human Rights Watch]],<ref>Human Rights Watch [https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/10/22/israel/palestine-designation-palestinian-rights-groups-terrorists# 'Israel/Palestine: Designation of Palestinian Rights Groups as Terrorists'] 22 October 2021</ref> and the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights who called it a "frontal attack on the Palestinian human rights movement and on human rights everywhere."<ref>UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights [https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=27702&LangID=E 'UN experts condemn Israel's designation of Palestinian human rights defenders as terrorist organisations'] 25 October 2021</ref> In July 2022, nine EU countries ([[Belgium]], [[Denmark]], [[France]], [[Germany]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Italy]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Spain]] and [[Sweden]]) issued a joint statement saying they will continue working with the six Palestinian organisations that Israel had banned because Israel had failed to prove that they should be considered terrorist groups.<ref>Hagar Shezaf: תשע מדינות באירופה: בהיעדר ראיות מישראל, נמשיך לסייע לארגונים האזרחיים בגדה / ‘Insufficient Evidence’: Nine EU Nations to Keep Ties With Palestinian NGOs Israel Blacklisted as Terrorist Groups. ''Haaretz'', 12&nbsp;July 2022.</ref> The C.I.A. could find no corroborative evidence to back the Israeli label, though it had access to Israel's intelligence on the issue.  The U.S. government has, of August 2022, failed to act on the results of the C.I.A. report.<ref>Isaac Scher,   [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/22/cia-report-israel-palestinian-rights-groups  'CIA unable to corroborate Israel’s ‘terror’ label for Palestinian rights groups,''] [[The Guardian]]   22 August 2022</ref> On 18 August 2022, Israeli forces raided the headquarters of the six organisations along with the [[Union of Health Work Committees]] (outlawed in 2020) in Ramallah and al-Bireh, removed computers and equipment and ordered their closure. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/130475|title=Israeli forces raid offices of several Palestinian CSOs in Ramallah|date= 18 August 2022|publisher =WAFA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-forces-kill-palestinian-west-bank-clashes-medics-say-2022-08-18/|title=Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank clashes, medics say|newspaper=Reuters |date=18 August 2022|via=www.reuters.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-08-18/ty-article/.premium/israel-raids-outlawed-palestinian-rights-groups-offices-in-west-bank/00000182-af5a-d1f9-a59e-ff7a07050000|title=Israel Raids Outlawed Palestinian Rights Groups' Offices in West Bank|newspaper=Haaretz}}</ref>
In November 2021, it was revealed by Frontline Defenders, working with Amnesty International and the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab, that Ubai al-Aboudi, head of the Bisan Center, was among the employees of the targeted groups that were hacked with NSO Group's Pegasus spyware.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20211108-israeli-pegasus-spyware-used-on-banned-palestinian-groups |title=Israeli Pegasus spyware used on 'banned Palestinian groups' |date=8 November 2021 |publisher=France 24}}</ref>
In February 2022, the Bisan Center launched "The Bisan Lecture Series", a planned series of discourses on subjects of cultural, scientific, and societal importance aimed at "full integration of Palestine into the global learning community".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://mondoweiss.net/2022/02/introducing-the-bisan-lecture-series/ |title=Introducing The Bisan Lecture Series |date=3 February 2022 |publisher=Mondoweiss}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.mdgfund.org/sites/default/files/GEN_%20STUDY_OPT_Gender%20Violence%20situation.pdf Gender-based violence in the Palestinian Occupied Territories (Bisan Center, 2011)]
[[Category:Charities based in the State of Palestine]]
[[Category:Human rights organizations based in the State of Palestine]]
[[Category:Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1989]]
[[Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Israel]]
[[Category:Organizations based in Ramallah]]